“The paragraphs the school textbooks lack”

Nearly a month has passed since the schools in Vinnytsia received the books from the Den’s Library. It will be reminded that at the initiative of the Vinnytsia City Council and the Podilska Hromada (Podil Community) Charity Foundation, with the assistance of Mayor Serhii Morhunov, several gift books from the Den’s Library went to all schools of the oblast center. Those included Ukraine Incognita, a collection of various authors’ works about different periods of Ukrainian history, James Mace’s bestseller Your Dead Chose Me, and Mykhailo Drahomanov’s article “Lost time. Ukrainian literature scribed by the Russian government” from the series “Armor-Piercing Political Writing.” Of course, there are still more goals to achieve, because the Library currently includes over 30 publications, so the abovementioned action is supposed to be a kind of an aperitif to spark a greater intellectual appetite. Meanwhile, according to the data of the editorial office of the newspaper, within the framework of the action “Gift the Den’s Library to the School You Went to” over 12,000 books have been donated to libraries since 2007.

Vinnytsia teachers say that the new books don’t stay too long on the shelves of the school libraries. The students of the 11th form who are getting ready for the External Independent Evaluation pass them hands to hands, simply writing in the surname of the new reader in the record sheet.

“FOR THOSE WHO SEEK DEEP KNOWLEDGE”

Vadym LIUBUNIA, history and law teacher, Humanitarian Gymnasium No. 1, Vinnytsia:

“The books from the Library of the newspaper Den are stored at the school library, but honestly they don’t stay there for too long, because the new publications literally ‘stick’ to your hands, they have a peculiar smell of a new book, and even those who don’t like reading, take them to leaf through. To present the books we have received from the city council, we have organized an exhibit in the central hall. The children had an opportunity to look through and get to know the new additions to the library. Ukraine Incognita was the first one to be read actively. Some people said that these books were too difficult for children, but I can say that children are different. In our gymnasium there are many talented pupils who with pleasure read literature beyond the school program. And the teacher should find the possibility to meet the interests of all children. Therefore for those who were looking for profound knowledge, Den’s book came in handy. Frankly, there are not many publications like this at the school library. If we had more of them, it would have helped us to ‘arm’ our children with arguments and facts, which in the future will undoubtedly be helpful for Ukraine.”

“AN OPPORTUNITY TO COMPARE THE VIEWS, YOUR OWN, THE HISTORIAN’S, AND THE TEACHER’S”

Iryna MATKOVSKA, deputy director on teaching and educational work, history and law teacher, School No. 18, Vinnytsia:

“On the following day after the books were brought to school, I started reading them, because this is a duty of a teacher: before giving the material to the students, you first of all should read it yourself. While I was leafing through the books, I liked that although they were describing the events of the past, they stayed in touch with the present. This allows one to put the thoughts in order and find answers to the questions that previously were hushed. After we presented the new additions to the students, we decided that the children who are now getting ready to the 4th stage of the All-Ukrainian Olympiad on Ukrainian history should be the first to read them. For the extraordinary views of the authors will help them understand those events better. You know, what our Olympiad participants said after they read the book Ukraine Incognita? ‘These are namely the paragraphs that the school textbook lacks. They give one a possibility to compare the views, your own, the historian’s, and the teacher’s.’”

“THE INTERPRETATION OF CERTAIN FACTS WAS NEW TO US”

Liudmyla KRYVTSUN, deputy director on teaching and educational work, history and law teacher, School No. 22, Vinnytsia:

“I must admit that the children, even the senior pupils, hadn’t know before that the newspaper Den had a library of its own and published books. That was rather an advantage, because when the school received the books, the students got interested by the unknown and started to read the new literature actively. For us, the teachers, the interpretation of certain facts was new. For example, I knew that Mykhailo Drahomanov was an adept of the federalism idea, but in the book he supports the idea of independent Ukraine. I decided to present to the children this material which is outlined differently. So, at a history class dedicated to the general topic of Ukrainian liberation movement we were discussing the first Ukrainian magazine Hromada supervised by Drahomanov. The children analyzed certain paragraphs from “Lost time. Ukrainian literature scribed by the Russian government” and worked with them as with documents.

“For the presentation of the book Ukraine Incognita we decided to hold a mini conference, because the publication consists of 25 materials that need to be popularized. The 11th-grade students divided the topics and presented the materials. After the presentation an active discussion took place. Namely this format of work enables the children to think and shape their answers, based on the facts, argumentation, and documents.”

“THESE SEEDS WILL GROW IN THE NEAR FUTURE”

Oleksandr FEDORYSHEN, head of the public organization “Community ‘History of Vinnytsia’”:

“I think it is too early to speak about the effect of the presented books. But these seeds will grow in the near future and be of great humanitarian use for Ukraine and Vinnytsia, in particular. It is pleasant for me that our conversation touched upon the burning issues. A month hasn’t passed since the Vinnytsia discussion of the biography of the English journalist Gareth Jones, but the fascination with the courage and the journalist stand of this man of the Truth since the time of the Holodomor will soon become the basis for the new film by Polish director Agnieszka Holland. And the accents of the Ukrainian-Japanese relations for our city will soon be reinforced by the unique exhibition of Cossack and Samurai cold bladed weapons.”

“DEVELOP CHILDREN’S INTELLECT, NOT SIMPLY SHOW A READY PRODUCT”

Serhii MORHUNOV, Vinnytsia mayor:

“I’m glad that the work on popularization of the history of Ukraine and Vinnytsia, in particular, has become more active in our city. It’s important not only to know your history to have a future, you should rightly use the facts and events of the past in order to defend your nation and your homeland. The newspaper Den is teaching us this. It is headed by Larysa Ivshyna whom I had an honor to meet personally. After our conversation I understood that she and her team deeply care about Ukraine and its future. We were talking a lot about education, urbanism, culture, the importance of reconsideration of all historical processes that were taking place both during the establishment of the statehood of Ukraine, and after it gained independence in 1991. Of course, also about what has been taking place in the recent years in the context of Russian propaganda, which is practically a humanitarian occupation of an aggressor state. I very much liked Larysa Ivshyna’s words that our society must look at what the entire intellectual world is living with and pick up the best things. To stay with Europe and at the same time pick up from Japan, where school education is aimed at developing the intellect, not just showing a ready product. Through the projects, such as the Den’s Library which includes 30 different publications with a pressrun of 150,000 copies, I think the seeds we’re sowing in the souls of Vinnytsia schoolchildren will grow and yield good fruit.”