PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS IN WAR: CHARACTERISTICS AND SIGNIFICANCE FOR CHILDREN WHO HAVE SUFFERED LOSSES

Danko Antonina, Researcher at the Department of Economics and Management of General Secondary Education Institute of Pedagogy of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine Kyiv, Ukraine

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9551-4327

аntoninadanko@gmail.com

Abstract

Harmonious personality development, the ability to adapt to stressful situations, successful socialization, and educational activities are all elements of training the future generation. Psychological and pedagogical support of students plays a significant role in these processes, as it is at the stage of secondary education that a child does not have a formed psyche, or a clear worldview and is only at the beginning of his or her personal development trajectory. The teacher plays the role of an assistant in this process. The conditions of war pose serious challenges for children in Ukraine, many of whom have already faced losses, whether material or the loss of a loved one. Schools are one of the most stable social institutions, and psychological and pedagogical support for students in war is a fundamental element of the educational process in today's realities, it is of great practical importance in working with children in Ukraine and their psychological and emotional recovery, which emphasizes the importance of studying the issue.

The scientific article is an original study of the essence and significance, characteristic features, tools of psychological and pedagogical support for students developing in the context of armed conflict and suffering losses from the war in Ukraine. The methods of analysis, comparison, abstraction, and generalization were used to implement the study.

The paper determines the essence of psychological and pedagogical support for students, which can be implemented by general secondary education institutions represented by teachers, psychologists, and social workers, the characteristic features of such support and its importance for children whose worldview is only being formed and is particularly vulnerable to the impact of war and the losses that accompany armed conflict. The authors studied psychological and pedagogical support in two contexts: as a process of searching for and identifying psychological problems in children who have suffered losses from the war in Ukraine, as well as a set of measures aimed at working out the child's issues, correcting his or her behavior and preventing the impact of the shock on personal growth, physical and intellectual development, communication skills, etc. Based on the study of these aspects, the authors focused on the applied role of psychological and pedagogical support at school and analyzed several practical ways to ensure psychological and pedagogical work with students who suffered losses during the war.

Keywords: psychological and pedagogical support; general secondary education institutions; children of Ukraine; war; personal formation; development; pedagogical methods; losses caused by war

Problem statement

In the context of the war, children in Ukraine are experiencing unprecedented stress, which is of great importance for their development and overall personal formation. General secondary education institutions (GSEIs) play a central role in the processes of education and upbringing, but supporting children is also one of the school's functions. Through the means of psychological and pedagogical influence, a teacher is able to create safe and comfortable conditions for students, as well as provide fundamental support to those who have suffered losses and are therefore limited in their ability to receive care and attention. Psychological and pedagogical support involves not only actual assistance to students who have suffered losses from the war but also restoring their social ties, helping them to establish interaction with society, which may be disrupted as a result of shock or unprecedented shock. Achieving such an effect is important from a practical point of view, but it is a real challenge for a modern teacher because, in this context, his or her role is not only to implement the educational process but also to find effective and appropriate psychological and pedagogical tools for working with a child with psychological trauma.

Analysis of recent research and publications

The issue of psychological and pedagogical support for children is broad in nature, and its individual aspects are studied by various contemporary scholars. For example, the role of psychology, the importance of supporting children in general and in war, in particular, is studied by V. Panok (Panok, 2023), the place of GSEI in psychological and pedagogical support for students is analyzed by O. Topuzov (Topuzov, 2021), O. Onats, B. Chyzhevskyi, L. Popovych (Onats, Chyzhevskyi & Popovych, 2024), the risks of post-traumatic disorders in children and prerequisites for behavioral correction (in the context of a negative experience) are studied by O. Fushtei, O. Ranarod, I. Sarancha (Fushtei & Sarancha, 2023), I. Pyholenko, Y. Pyholenko, K. Kuksa (Pyholenko, Pyholenko & Kuksa, 2023), and some foreign researchers (Bodha & Sheikh, 2016). For example, V. Panok notes that modern Ukrainian psychology has no experience of functioning in war conditions, and therefore the psychological tools used to provide psychological support to citizens and work through their psychological traumas caused by the impact of hostilities are only developing and changing by the needs of society; "psychological and pedagogical science can no longer be the same as it was before the war, it must be different, updated, modernized, and closer to practice". Emotional support for children is necessary in today's realities, as they increasingly experience difficulty concentrating, working and short-term memory. There is also a growing sense of unrealism about what is happening around them, difficulty reproducing the material they have already learned, and challenges in learning new knowledge. "The decline in the level of intelligence and creativity is only a small part of the psychological phenomena of war that are observed in practice in children, youth, and adults", notes V. Panko (2023), and such trends are destroying the future generation. As noted by I. Pyholenko, Y. Pyholenko, and K. Kuksa (2023), the loss caused by a large-scale negative event (such as war, the Holocaust, etc.) is a shock for a child, which can manifest itself even after a significant period – 40-50 years after the traumatic event (Pyholenko, Pyholenko & Kuksa, 2023, p. 246). Also, some researchers suggest that shocks of this magnitude can "make a society vulnerable to the recurrence of violence" (Bodha & Sheikh, 2016). Against the backdrop of current events, researchers are increasingly turning to the study and improvement of psychological and pedagogical methods of supporting children. For example, O. Topuzov studies the role and methods of implementing psychological and pedagogical support for children, and develops the concept of "educational partnership" in secondary education, which is part of the actual support of students. The scientist notes that support is realized through the prism of a teacher-student partnership, which creates "unequal equality" between them (Topuzov, 2021, p. 107). The lack of partnership leads to negative educational and social consequences (Topuzov, 2021, p. 110), which is exacerbated when the teacher neglects a negative experience or event that the student has had. O. Onats, B. Chyzhevskyi, L. Popovych place important emphasis on the importance of GSEIs in the roles of management and teachers. They note that it is these subjects who "are entrusted with the task of using their managerial, controlling, guiding, organizational, coordinating, consolidating, stimulating capabilities and powers in order to create appropriate conditions and a system for preserving and strengthening the physical, mental, social and spiritual health of students" (Onats, Chyzhevskyi & Popovych, 2024). O. Fushtei and I. Sarancha study the real consequences of the impact of war and loss on children's behavior and disorders, and identify a set of methods that can be applied within the school and will be effective in group or individual work: art therapy, game-based methods of emotional and mental correction of children's development, empathic listening, phobia relief, project activities (solving interesting tasks), group work with parents, etc. (Fushtei & Sarancha, 2023, pp. 43-44).

The aspects outlined in the works of modern researchers emphasize the importance of psychological and pedagogical support for students, as it is not just a part of students' education. It is the basis for restoring their mental health, finding psycho-emotional balance, restoring interest in life and social interaction, and the key to forming a healthy and resilient future generation. This work is aimed at studying the tools and implementation of psychological and pedagogical support in the context of its practical significance for students who suffered losses during the war.

The purpose of the article is to study the essence and significance, characteristic features, tools of psychological and pedagogical support for students developing in the context of armed conflict and suffering losses from the war in Ukraine. To achieve this goal, the authors used the methods of analysis (to study the essence, and characteristics of psychological and pedagogical support, to interpret its various manifestations – at the stage of identifying problems and on the way to their processing), comparison (to study psychological and pedagogical tools and techniques for supporting children), abstraction (to form a comprehensive understanding of the role played by specialists of the GSEE in accompanying a child who has suffered losses from war and in his or her adaptation to social life, taking into account the experience), generalization (to summarize the main material). Psychological and pedagogical support for students in general education institutions is multifaceted and multifunctional due to its nature of origin, as it covers both the field of pedagogy and the direction of psychological work of an individual with a highly specialized specialist:

– is the identification of problems, disorders, deviations in the development or behavior of children at the early stages of their occurrence, after experiencing negative experiences, shocks, such as losses caused by war;

– is a set of measures aimed at creating educational conditions for the psychological and emotional well-being of students, where each of them will have the opportunity to feel their value and belonging, which will partially compensate for the loss of a loved one;

– is the process of ensuring the student's adaptation to life circumstances, the harsh realities of potential and real losses that the child's weak psyche is not ready to perceive correctly.

Psychological and pedagogical support begins with the recognition of psychological disorders in students caused by losses during the war at the early stages of their occurrence and the search for personalized ways to effectively correct the child's behavior and general condition through pedagogical education, which can significantly affect their development and future life.

School-age children are particularly reactive to stress and shocks, which in most cases manifests itself in isolation and closeness of the personality, which complicates the process of recognizing the problem. The main signs that emphasize the fact that a person needs psychological and pedagogical support are emotional, behavioral, and physiological (Voznitsyna & Lytvynenko, 2023). Figure 1 shows the classification of manifestations of psycho-physical and emotional disorders in students, which is based on the practical experience of modern child psychologists and social educators. It includes a description of the signs that should be paid attention to in children's behavior and perceived as confirmation of the presence of disorders that occur and are especially pronounced in the post-traumatic period (in particular, after a loss).

Fig. 1. Classification of manifestations of psycho-physical and emotional disorders in children

Source: compiled by the author according to (Voznitsyna & Lytvynenko, 2023, pp. 122-123).

The modern practice of educating school-age children increasingly includes more measures of their psychological and pedagogical support¸ as the number of mentally and emotionally traumatized children who have suffered losses from war continues to grow. According to the results of the survey "Protecting Childhood: Dimensions of Security for the Younger Generation" (Catalyse Research, 2024), which was implemented in 15 countries to highlight global issues and local challenges at the level of the international community, 75% of parental respondents said that their children face more threats to their safety and well-being than they did when they were children. Ukraine's figure in this survey is 73% – the percentage of parents who say that there are "significantly more threats" (in particular, to the physical and mental development of children) (the corresponding figure for Turkey is 65%, Brazil – 65%, Kenya – 69%, and 43% for the world as a whole). In addition, the survey shows that 23% of children in the surveyed countries were directly affected by the war (67% indirectly); Ukraine's figures highlight the devastating impact of the war on the lives of children, with 99% being directly affected and only 1% indirectly. (Catalyse Research, 2024). In addition, a significant number of respondents (across all countries participating in the study) noted that the GSEI plays a significant role in supporting children after a loss – 87% of children surveyed say they feel safe within the educational institution (which includes social, physical, moral, psychological, legal and other subtypes). Ukraine's figure in this part of the survey was the lowest – 71% of respondents – but it confirms that the vast majority of children feel safe and comfortable in GSEIs (Catalyse Research, 2024); this indicates that the school environment plays a crucial role in psychological and pedagogical support for children in the post-traumatic period.

The above data indicate that the majority of Ukrainian children are traumatized by war (even if they are not yet aware of it) and the losses that accompany it. Accordingly, given the significant involvement of children in school life, their development and education in GSEI should be accompanied by psychological and pedagogical tools, methods and ways of support and assistance. This is a prerequisite for maintaining their mental health now and in the future.

Children of military personnel are a particularly vulnerable category of schoolchildren, as the risk of a negative event in their lives is excessively high. In particular, cases of actual bereavement are much more frequent than in families who are not involved in military service and combat operations. The organization of their childhood depends on a significant number of factors, each of which can cause unprecedented shocks to the unformed psyche of the individual; this indicates the need to work on the following aspects with a psychologist or social educator, as they are already signals that the child needs psychological and pedagogical support:

– Stresses arising from the family's direct or indirect involvement in military events and service;

– forced and non-alternative acceptance of the values and norms of a closed social system by family members;

– limited choice of life strategies, and organization of life and leisure activities because family interests are secondary to the needs, conditions and requirements of the service (which is a very difficult aspect for a school-age child to understand and accept);

– problems of adaptation of family members (especially children) to the living conditions, society and environment, which may change permanently as a result of moving;

– prolonged separation of the child from his or her parent;

– death of a parent while performing combat missions;

– loss of emotional closeness with a father/mother or even two parents at the same time (Voznitsyna & Litvinenko, 2023, p. 124).

An effective way to correct behavior and conduct therapy with students is for a specialist (social educator, psychologist, teacher) to use a set of psychological and pedagogical tools that are successfully combined and effectively complement each other. Personality formation, which begins in childhood, lasts throughout life and can be disrupted by the loss of war, involves a set of activities, each of which makes a unique contribution to the formation of a person; such activities include play, learning, work and communication (Branitska, Matokhniuk & Shportun, 2022, p. 80). The psychological component of the support process is successfully provided by communication, while the pedagogical component is provided by the student's learning and work.

Communication with a child who has suffered losses from war in the context of supporting him or her can be defined as one of the psychological tools. The professional organization of the communication process is the responsibility of a psychologist or social worker. The basis of their therapy is conversations, individual counselling, classes devoted to the study of personality psychology, analysis of feelings, and development of the ability to manage feelings and overcome difficult emotions; these are the forms that allow to eliminate barriers between the specialist and the student, to create a safe space for processing and analyzing the emotions, grief and consequences of loss experienced by the child.

In the process of communication, the specialist, guided by the basic ethical principles (impartiality, confidentiality, respect for the decisions of the opponent, and consideration of cultural characteristics) (Kalinina, 2022, p. 105), forms a general idea of the child's psychological and emotional state. Interaction with a child in difficult life circumstances and familiarity with the severity of the loss allows the psychologist to draw a conclusion about his or her readiness to interact with the outside world and socialize, which includes social and communicative components. During the conversation, the specialist helps to activate children's readiness for life in society (after experiencing negative experiences), build their social potential and understanding of the importance of adequacy in communication, supports the development of communication skills, and helps in self-realization and self-affirmation in general (Kalinina, 2021).

According to contemporary scholars, a child changes his or her view of human death and attitude toward this event over a long period of time. The main components that a child should realize when a tragic event occurs are the following: the loss is irreversible, permanent (in the sense of final), and death, in general, is universal (i.e., it will happen to everyone) and inevitable (Brown & Goodman, 2005). Due to their immaturity, children cannot understand and accept the above aspects on their own. The transformation of awareness covers the period from birth to adolescence when a child already consciously perceives death and understands the irreversibility of this event. At the age of 6 to 9 years, the individual begins to determine the loss as a terrible and final tragedy (Zlyvkov et al., 2023, p. 106), and it is during this period that psychological support is mandatory. At this stage, the teacher and psychologist should communicate to the student the well-known things about the loss of a person, which will potentially help the student not only survive the shock but also develop emotional stability, feel their value and adapt to new life realities. When using communication as a way of psychological and pedagogical support, it is important to speak in real words, to remain sincere in your phrases (in particular, using the word "died" will be more accurate than confusing phrases that will only increase the child's confusion) (Zlyvkov et al., 2023, p. 107).

Modern tools of self-regulation and relaxation are ways to correct cognitive, somatic and behavioral manifestations of psycho-emotional disorders in children (Branitska, Matokhniuk & Shportun, 2022, p. 92). If such a need arises, the teacher (psychologist) can turn to the practice of mindfulness – a set of techniques aimed at awareness and concentration on the present moment of life; their goal is to "restore normal social, psychophysiological, and value-motivational functioning of the individual" (Moroz, 2020, p. 142). Mindfulness techniques include breathing exercises, meditation (Paskevych & Tserkovna, 2024), mental activity (focusing on the current moment while doing a certain job), and sound exercises.

Methods that involve a combination of communication and learning are effectively interpreted in the form of play or art therapy. From a psychological and pedagogical point of view, play is one of the few effective ways for a child to express his or her real emotions (which may lead a psychologist to believe that a student has hidden problems and worries). Play therapy in the context of psychological and pedagogical support has the following tasks:

– activates feelings of joy, satisfaction, self-confidence and self-reliance, mitigates the effects of negative experiences and failures;

– play is a space for the manifestation of fantasies and individuality, which restores a child's sense of self-worth and promotes inclusion in education;

– play is about variability, a process in which children understand that there are different ways of developing events and the possibility of changing their own opinions, decisions, etc;

– play therapy transmits certain cultural values, and traditions that are characteristic of a particular society and are important for the child's awareness in the process of socialization and, elimination of barriers in communication processes (Branitska, Matokhniuk & Shportun, 2022, pp. 80-81).

Among the games that can be used in the psychological and pedagogical support of children who have experienced bereavement during the war, the following should be highlighted (Table 1):

Table 1

Some examples of psychotherapeutic games that can be used in pedagogical practice to support students who have suffered losses from war

Source: compiled by the author based on data from (Branitska, Matokhniuk & Shportun, 2022).

Thus, the main purpose of games in psychological and pedagogical support for students is to work through negative emotions in a comfortable, entertaining way, in conditions where the child cannot openly talk about it. The game allows not only to "find" problems but also to analyze them effectively – to indirectly discuss traumatic experiences, to organize the symbiosis of emotions that have been controlling the child since the onset of the loss. Play therapy is one of the most effective in the context of building emotional resilience, skills of healthy, adequate response to stressful situations, finding guidelines for further life and returning to society, as well as "unlocking" hidden resources necessary to overcome difficulties that may occur again in a child's life.

Conclusions

This paper analyzes the concept of psychological and pedagogical support for children who have suffered losses as a complex category that has important practical potential in the realities of war. It was determined that the concept provides for different interpretations: it is the process of identifying problems, disorders, deviations in the development or behavior of children at the early stages of their occurrence; it is a set of measures aimed at creating educational conditions for the psychological and emotional well-being of students, as well as supporting inclusion in school, which is necessary for the child to realize his or her role, value, restore communication with others and regain interest in life (taking into account individual traumatic experience); it is the promotion of adaptation of educational and psychological programs to meet the needs of children affected by trauma. The authors summarize that the signs that signal the need to provide urgent psychological and pedagogical support to a child are a combination of the following manifestations (emotional, cognitive, behavioral, somatic). Given the large number of children in Ukraine who have experienced the negative experience of loss from war, it is advisable to turn to effective practical support measures based on a combination of psychological and pedagogical tools. The most effective, according to the author, are conversations, counselling and individual sessions, modern tools of self-regulation and relaxation, game forms and art therapy.

Prospects for further research may include studying ways to modernize and modify psychological and pedagogical methods in view of the digitalization of school education. In particular, the issue of integrating digital tools into psychological and pedagogical practice (for example, the use of virtual reality technologies to create a safe and effective environment in the context of therapeutic and educational functions).

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