Education for Democracy in Ukraine

At a recent Kennan Institute talk, Alden Craddock, Director, International Democratic Education Institute, Bowling Green State University, discussed civic education and how it can further the development of democracy in Ukraine. Craddock explained that civic education teaches students the knowledge, attitudes and skills that are required in order to be an involved citizen in a democratic society. Good civic education programs, according to Craddock, make use of active teaching and learning methodologies and provide students with authentic, real-world experiences, rather than simply lecturing them and expecting them to simply memorize information. Civic education teaches students not only the fundamental information on the nature of a democratic state and society, but also the skills and attitudes necessary for being a democratic citizen, such as the ability to debate, analyze, and cooperate, and the value of honesty, trustworthiness, and tolerance. In addition, Craddock argued, civic education recognizes that the informal curriculum is just as important as the formal curriculum in teaching these skills and attitudes.

According to Craddock, civic education is important for post-Soviet Ukraine because of the country's lack of democratic history, the anti-democratic legacy of the Soviet Union, and the absence of a national political identity—although he noted that a stronger sense of national identity appears to be have developed around the Orange Revolution. The current system of education in Ukraine is largely reflective of the old Soviet system and uses very different methods than those necessary for civic education, he contended. Education is managed through a strict hierarchy of teachers, administrators, and state officials under the direction of the Ministry of Education. Most teachers use pedagogic teaching methods, which encourage students to memorize the content presented to them in lectures, rather than to analyze information and apply it to real-world situations.

Programs sponsored by international organizations have attempted to introduce the principles of civic education in Ukraine. Craddock described the Education for Democracy in Ukraine project, which was funded by the U.S. Department of State and the European Union. He explained that he directed the US part of the project which was run jointly by the Mershon Center of Ohio State University, The Center for Civic Education in Poland, and the DOBA regional association of history teachers in Lviv, Ukraine. The program produced a Ukrainian language civic education textbook and curriculum entitled "We Are Citizens of Ukraine," which Craddock believes is better and more progressive than most civic education texts in the United States. He emphasized that the curriculum was developed and the text was written entirely by Ukrainians, in consultation with American and European advisors. Other accomplishments of the program, he added, included a U.S. study tour for education policy makers from Ukraine, the development of DOBA into a sustainable national association of teachers, and training programs that reached nearly 2,000 teachers throughout the country.

Recent research provides evidence that students who completed the "We Are Citizens of Ukraine" curriculum are more likely to hold democratic views and understand the principles of a democratic society than students who did not take the course, Craddock said. He made comparisons with results from an international survey of students in formerly Communist states. The Ukrainian students who had taken the course demonstrated an understanding of the principles of democracy comparable to that of students in countries such as Poland and significantly higher than other students in Ukraine.