Enlarged partial agreement

Observatory on History Teaching in Europe

Currently, the Ukrainian education system is undergoing the “New Ukrainian School” reform. While the old system provides for an 11-year general education (for ages 6 to 17), the new system provides for a 12-year general education (for ages 6 to18) in three cycles: primary school (grades 1-4), basic school (grades 5-9), and profile school (grades 10-12). The current state of the reform in the scholastic year 2023/24 is that for the age group 6-12 (grades 1-6), the new programme is in place nationwide. Students in the age group 12-17 (grades 7-11) still follow the old curriculum. The old courses will be gradually replaced by the new ones on an annual cycle. In grade 7, the new courses are currently being piloted in some schools and will be implemented nationwide in September 2024.

In Ukraine, history teaching begins at lower secondary level (grade 5, age 10). Under the old history curriculum, students take “Introduction to history” for one year and both “History of Ukraine” and “World history” in the next year. These courses will be replaced with new ones under the “New Ukrainian School” reform. Furthermore, there are two compulsory courses over these two years: “Ukraine and the world, introduction to the history of Ukraine and civic education” and “Studying history and society”. The decision on which programmes to teach is usually made at the school level, but teachers can also individually choose a programme.

In the remaining three grades of lower secondary education (ages 12-14), there are the compulsory courses “History of Ukraine” and “World history”, with the former involving an optional final assessment. A compulsory course “History: Ukraine and the world” with an optional final assessment, is currently being piloted in grade 7, and will be fully introduced under the new curriculum.

Under the old curriculum, history is compulsory throughout the two years of upper secondary education (ages 15-16). Schools may choose to offer either two separate courses — “History of Ukraine” and “World history” — or an integrated course, “History: Ukraine and the world”. Final assessments are required for “History of Ukraine” and “History: Ukraine and the world”. Under the new curriculum, there will be three years of upper secondary schooling; information on the history curricula that will be implemented at this level is not yet available.

There are both private schools and religious schools in Ukraine, all of which are required to follow the national history curricula approved by the Ministry of Education and Science.

National history curricula are approved by the Ministry of Education and Science.

 Curricula workstation by GEI (History curricula search by country)

The assessment methods teachers are required to use are formative assessment and final assessment. Teachers are also required to use the assessment criteria recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science.

End-of-stage examinations take place in history.

For school students completing basic secondary education (grade 9) there is an elective form of end-of-stage examination (state final attestation) in the courses “History of Ukraine” and “World history”. State final attestation for 9th graders takes place in schools.

For school students completing field-specific secondary education (grade 11 or 12) there is an elective form of end-of-stage examination (state final attestation) in the course “History of Ukraine”. State final attestation for 11th or 12th graders is conducted nationwide by the Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment.

End-of-stage examinations assess the following fields of knowledge: historical content knowledge, historical thinking competences (e.g., critical analysis and evaluation of evidence, formulation and justification of historical arguments, consideration of different perspectives), social and civic competences (e.g., conflict resolution skills, demonstrating empathy, respect for diversity).

End-of-stage examinations are written and use both closed and open-ended questions.

The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Institute of Education Content Modernisation are responsible for the competitive selection and publishing of history textbooks. History textbooks are also translated into the languages of national minorities.

Policies on the use of different types of educational resources are as follows:

REQUIRED	ENCOURAGED	ALLOWED
History textbooks	Apps for smartphones and tablets with historical content Artefacts (e.g., paintings, architecture, sculptures, contemporary art) Audio sources (e.g., music, the sound of a steam engine) Audiovisual sources (e.g., newsreels, private archives, commercials) Cinema and documentaries with historical themes Historiographical  bibliography Literature (e.g., historical novels, graphic novels) Oral sources (interviews with grandparents, relatives, neighbours, etc.) Primary documentary sources Reports on historical topics in popular magazines Visual sources (e.g., paintings, photographs, drawings)	Local cultural heritage (e.g., costumes, food traditions, celebrations) Local and regional festivals and traditions related to historical events Museums and other places of heritage interpretation Printed or digital press (newspapers and magazines) Search engines and websites with historical content not necessarily validated by the education authorities Teacher notes Video games Websites and databases with historical content approved by the educational authorities

 International TextbookCat (GEI collection of Textbooks and Educational Media)

History teachers are required to complete an initial teacher-training programme provided by pedagogical higher education institutions, and to complete a bachelor’s degree programme lasting four years. Alternatively, an aspiring teacher may complete a general bachelor’s or master’s degree at any higher education institution. These teachers have to complete a one-year internship at their place of work during their first year of work. No special entry exam is needed. There are no specific prerequisites for becoming a substitute history teacher.

At the primary level, teachers receive general training to teach across a range of disciplines. At the secondary level, teachers are trained to teach history and one or more other discipline(s).

According to legislation, teachers should be involved in professional development. Annual training is mandatory, and the required number of hours for professional development should be at least 150 hours over a five-year period. The Law on Education (2017) introduced academic freedom for pedagogical staff, deregulating the model for teachers’ professional development. Teachers can choose the institutions where they take courses for professional development. Educators have the right to choose the providers of professional development, who develop their training programmes, taking professional standards into consideration.

 All-Ukrainian Association of Teachers of History and Social Studies - Nova Doba (presentation by EuroClio)

  All-Ukrainian Association of Teachers of History and Social Studies - Nova Doba (official website)