UNCW to train Ukrainian teachers in ESL with focus on blended learning, trauma-informed teaching

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — UNCW is putting thousands of dollars toward helping educators in war-torn Ukraine.

Kateryna Forynna and Daisyane Barreto are working to create a curriculum to train English as a second language (ESL) teachers in Ukraine. Forynna, the director of the university’s English Language Center, and Barreto, an associate professor in the Watson College of Education.

The US Department of State is giving the university $73,200 in grant funding for the program. UNCW is recruiting teachers to take part in the training through a partnership with the National Technical University of Ukraine in Kyiv.

“For the longest time, language classes were solely focused on language learning, but now the research shows it’s more effective when students are presented with authentic content in a variety of subjects,” Forynna said. “They learn that language and content at the same time.”

According to Forynna, more than 70 percent of Ukrainian children are learning online or a combination of online and in-person because of the war. As a native Ukrainian, she says creating this program is especially meaningful to her.

“This hits close to home, so I decided if there is anything I can do, however small to help those in Ukraine,” Forynna said.

In addition to the ESL training, teachers will learn best practices for the blended learning models and trauma informed teaching to help students navigate living through war.

For Barreto, she says creating the program is about equipping other educators to help their students.

“I think that we all believe that the most impact that we can do is that we can help these students who still are striving for learning, right? They still want to learn and being that key aspect in their learning and helping them in that process, I think it is the reason why you become a teacher,” Barreto said.

The two are working on developing the curriculum now. The first group of teachers is expected to go through the training early next year and implement what they learned in the fall.

The hope is the program will lead to a domino effect, allowing the teachers to share what they’ve learned with other teachers and impacting more students in Ukraine.

If you would like to support the program, contact the English Language Center on UNCW’s campus.