Since 2016, ASTARTA has become an ambassador of humane pedagogics within a framework of corporate social responsibility, having implemented the project Humane Pedagogics in schools of Poltava, Khmelnitsky and Vinnitsa regions. The Humane Pedagogics Project is based on the doctrines of Shalva and Paata Amonashvili, great humanists of modern pedagogics who break down stereotypes about school education and help to understand that every child is unique and has a mission in this world. The main aim of the project is to introduce a method of humane pedagogics in the work with children, which aims at the full disclosure of the creative and spiritual potential of the pupils, and the teacher should contribute most to this.
Starting from 10 schools, in 2019 the Humane Pedagogics project covers 32 schools: 203 teachers and 4,000 children participate. The project is based on mutual respect, ability to listen and hear. Within the framework of the project, in the formats of pedagogical readings, workshops, thematic meetings, the ideas and doctrines of the great Teachers of Amonashvili are sent to parents and teachers in order to create a school for Joy, Life and Spiritual Growth for children.
Pedagogical workshops are held regularly for teachers, they attend seminars of Shalva and Paata in Ukraine (Kyiv, Lviv) and Belarus. The representatives of the All-Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Association for the Humane Pedagogics hold regional seminars. The exhibition of sculptures by Alexei Leonov works as an access to humanism through works of art. Due to the openness and accessibility of the project, all residents of the communities become the target audience and participants of Humane Pedagogics. In total, more than 3000 people attended regional seminars and exhibitions.
In the Poltava region the Globinsky center of Humane Pedagogics has already been working for three years. The center has incorporated 4 schools and a kindergarten. Irina Oliynyk curates the methodology of the center. She has headed the Poltava Regional Center of the All-Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Association for Humane Pedagogics of Shalva Amonashvili (Kremenchuk) for more than 10 years.
– Humane pedagogics is a constant concern, when the teacher is not standing over the child, but near – they open the world together, get surprised, have doubts, get upset. If the child is surrounded by noble people, those who give birth to the good, then such child will take the world properly, – Iryna Oliynyk is convinced.
According to surveys, 70% of parents, whose children participate in the project, reported positive changes in their children’s behavior: children pay heed to their parents, wish to go to school, grades have improved, children became kinder and more attentive.
Viktor Ivanchyk, CEO Astarta:
I appeal to the teachers: teach children to dream! To dream of anything. Let it be a pipe dream, but only at first glance. Tell them it’s possible. Then they will erase from their minds all the boundaries – countries, our conditions and present wages. The dream has no boundaries. And then the child will have an aim. Say you will help them, let them not be afraid, let them overcome difficulties, learn and seek. Give them hope and faith, and most importantly, self-confidence. And let them go! Having confidence in their abilities, the child will do much more than what his or her own environment has hoped for.