Strengthening Civic Education in Ukraine

On September 30, 2004 the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, US Department of State, issued a sole source contract to Bowling Green State University to conduct the activities of the Strengthening Civic Education in Ukraine project. These activities are follow-on to the successful Education for Democracy in Ukraine and US-UA Civic Education Dissemination projects conducted through the partnership directed by Dr. Alden Craddock (of the Mershon Center and later, Bowling Green State University) and Nova Doba. Craddock has continued his partnership with Nova Doba through this current project and also the CIVITAS: An International Civic Education Exchange funded by subcontract from the US Department of Education.

The central purpose of the Strengthening Civic Education in Ukraine project were to further the spread and use of the civic education textbook developed during the prior project. The Strengthen Civic Education in Ukraine project was designed to further the impact of the original effort by increasing the number of the original texts available for use in secondary schools and extending the scope of the project into the middle grades. The project accomplished these goals through the following activities and results:

Objective 1: Curriculum Revision

- Recruitment of four participants for the US-based workshop and conduct of US-based workshop involving scholars and teacher mentors that was held between April 17 – May 7, 2005. This seminar involved classroom visits in Bowling Green (rural/small town), Perrysburg (suburban) and Toledo City (urban) schools with a variety of student and teacher populations. The seminar also involved professional meetings and cultural events in Ohio, Michigan and Washington DC.

- Printing of 5,000 copies of the middle grades text and 5,000 copies of the secondary text.

- Conduct of approximately 89 workshops, seminars or roundtables to support the development and dissemination of the new materials.

-Development of “We Learn to be Citizens” middle grades text that was designated as “Recommend by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine”.

Objective 2: Community Action:

-Development of Project Citizen for the middle grades and inclusion of 140 middle grade students in the annual showcase.

Objective 3: Civic Education Conference

- Hosting of the Civic Education Conference in Kyiv in April 2006 for more than 200 participants. The remainder of the annual report will detail the completion of these major activities and accomplishments of the project.

III. ACCOMPLISHMENTS

During the project the following accomplishments were achieved:

-Recruitment of four participants for the US-based workshop. These participants were Sergei Burov, Victor Mysan, Alexander Voitenko and Polina Verbytska.

-Conduct of US-based workshop involving scholars and teacher mentors that was held between April 17 – May 7, 2005. This seminar involved classroom visits in Bowling Green (rural/small town), Perrysburg (suburban) and Toledo City (urban) schools with a variety of student and teacher populations. The seminar also involved professional meetings and cultural events in Ohio, Michigan and Washington DC.

-Printing of 5,000 copies of the middle grades text and 5,000 copies of the secondary text.

-Conduct of approximately 89 workshops, seminars or roundtables to support the development and dissemination of the new materials.

-Development of “We Learn to be Citizens” middle grades text that was designated as “Recommend by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine”.

-Development of Project Citizen for the middle grades and inclusion of 140 middle grade students in the annual showcase.

-Hosting of the Civic Education Conference in Kyiv in April 2006 for more than 200 participants. By the end of the contract period, the project had met or exceeded project goals and expectations. The one area of disappointment was the decision by the leadership of the Center for Civic Education to hold their annual conference in Warsaw instead of Kyiv. Even with the historic events of the Orange revolution and subsequent challenges to educational reform and development in Ukraine, the project continued on course and pace with predicted goals.

Other Ukraine Projects:

Ohio-Alabama-Ukraine Partnership
Curriculum development for integrating civic education in the content areas of the social studies