Training Of Trainers for Teacher’s Support Centres: a Step Toward a New Quality of Support for Educators

On 14-15 February 2026, Odesa once again became a space for professional dialogue and mutual support. Under the joint UNICEF and NGO "Progressive and Strong" project "Strengthening Teaching and Learning Processes in the Southern Regions of Ukraine", a Training of Trainers was conducted for facilitators of Teacher’s Support Centres. At a time when educators in the South work daily at the limit of their professional endurance, such gatherings become more than mere learning events – they transform into spaces for the renewal of meaning, trust, and professional solidarity. It is here that a new quality of educational leadership takes shape, grounded in mutual support and shared responsibility for the future of children.

The event brought together representatives from eight Teacher’s Support Centres established on the premises of educational institutions across Kherson, Mykolayiv, and Odesa regions. Specialists who are to serve as trainers and facilitators of professional support for educators gathered to acquire a comprehensive practical toolkit for accompanying teachers in conditions of wartime and post-war recovery.

"Today we are preparing not merely trainers – we are forming a team of people who will become a genuine anchor point for teachers in the South. Each Teacher’s Support Centre is a safe space of trust where an educator can restore their inner resources, discover new solutions, and feel that they are not alone", – stressed Anatoliy Ihnatovych UNICEF Education Project Coordinator for Southern Ukraine.

In essence, the training addressed the formation of a new role for the educational trainer – not merely as a carrier of knowledge, but as a facilitator of change, a guide to professional resilience, and an individual who helps fellow educators maintain their internal stability under conditions of prolonged stress. The program opened with the module "I as a Trainer: From Theory to Practice", delivered by the founder of NGO "Progressive and Strong" Bohdan Ferens. As an experienced practitioner, he shared personal accounts and examples from work in multicultural teams, guiding participants to recognize their own professional profile; identify the core competencies of an effective trainer; and acquire the methodological foundations of training design.

"It is important to remember", – noted Bohdan Ferens, "that a training session must be engaging, accessible, and professionally challenging. There is no need to complicate what can be explained in simple language. The principles are straightforward, but it is precisely their consistent application that ensures a high-quality outcome".

Particular attention was devoted to the topic of educational recovery – addressing learning losses – presented by Viacheslav Maiorskyi Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy of Education at the Odesa Academy of Continuing Education of the Odesa Regional Council, and Honoured Teacher of Ukraine. The topic is of acute relevance for educators in Southern Ukraine, where education has suffered significant losses due to wartime conditions, and all participants in the educational process require a specialised approach. Discussions covered principles of assessment and self-assessment, pedagogical tools, and approaches to the psychosocial support of students.

The latter part of the afternoon transformed into a genuine "Living Library" – a unique format in which a human being is equated with a book, and each conversation with a "book" opens new horizons. During this time, the training ceased to function solely as a learning event and became a space of authentic stories and professional courage. It is in exchanges of this kind that a genuine community is born – not a formal one, but a living one, founded on trust and the readiness to stand alongside one another.

The "books" were the trainers themselves, who shared their personal experiences on topics of concern to the educational community of the South.

Yevheniia Shelest, Coordinator of the Organisational Development and Progressive and Strong Islands Directions at NGO "Progressive and Strong" and Project Manager, spoke on "Progressive Educational Leadership in Action: From a Single Creative Event to a Sustainable Movement of Support". Yet the deepest impression was left not by the theoretical content, but by her personal account. Yevheniia described the organisation of the Retreat for visually impaired veterans and their family members – an experience that transformed her own understanding of what leadership is and why it matters.

"I believed I was going to support people who had endured the unbearable. But it turned out differently. When a participant who had lost his sight at the front said to me: 'This is the first day in two years that I have felt alive' – I understood: we are not organising events. We are creating a space where a person can meet themselves again", –shared Yevheniia, and silence fell over the room.

Her candor deeply impressed the audience. Participants witnessed directly that authentic leadership does not arise from a position or title – it arises from the capacity to be present alongside those who are most in need of support. And this, above all, is the most important lesson for the future trainers of the Centres, whose daily work will be built upon trust and humanity.

Liudmyla Kornuta, HR Direction Coordinator at NGO "Progressive and Strong" and Project Manager, addressed a topic that had been awaited with anticipation: "The Art of Energisers".

"An energiser is not entertainment, nor a way to 'fill time' between programme blocks. It is a precise instrument. It can bring a group back to work after an emotionally demanding topic, relieve tension, raise energy levels, or refocus scattered attention. A skilled trainer does not merely know the exercises – they perceive which one is needed here and now, for this specific group, at this specific moment".

Liudmyla shared her own favourite exercises – activities that appear simple yet produce a surprisingly powerful effect. She then did what distinguishes a genuine trainer from a theorist: she invited all participants to try the energiser for themselves. The room filled with movement, laughter, and an immediate shift in energy. Participants experienced in their own bodies how the state of an entire group can be transformed within minutes – and they left the block not merely with a set of techniques, but with an understanding of the philosophy of the energiser as an instrument of care for the audience.

The format also emphasised a particularly significant topic for the region: "Education in a Multicultural Environment: Challenges and Opportunities". The southern region of Ukraine has historically been distinguished by a high level of cultural and ethnic diversity. This multiculturalism shapes a unique educational environment in which the school becomes a space of intercultural dialogue, mutual respect, and the preservation of identity.

Zinaida Prokopenko, Roma activist, blogger, and advocacy adviser at NGO "Holos Romni" (Roma Voice), and founder of the Charitable Foundation "RADA", delivered a presentation of a kind rarely heard in pedagogical settings: "Education in a Multicultural Environment and the Real State of Affairs in Roma Communities in Ukraine".

Zinaida spoke frankly and without embellishment. In many closed Roma communities, adults possess only a primary level of education. Girls' access to schooling continues to be restricted by traditional norms – as some communities hold the conviction that an educated girl will begin to ask questions, desire change, and can no longer be controlled. The Romani language, living and richly dialectal, remains outside the purview of the educational system.

"We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking to be seen. When a child can come to school and not be ashamed of their traditions – they remain in education. When they are forced to choose between themselves and school – they leave", – shared Zinaida.

Zinaida pursues her mission through media projects and a YouTube blog dedicated to the dismantling of stereotypes. Participants noted that the topic is exceptionally relevant, and the experience of Kherson region, with its significant Roma community, serves as a vivid illustration.

The closing block of the first day was opened by Kostiantyn Palshkov, Co-coordinator of the Communications Direction at NGO "Progressive and Strong" who immediately established a practical tone for the discussion of how to communicate the work of the Teacher’s Support Centres to the wider world.

"Our reader is not an official or an expert. They are a parent, a teacher, a concerned individual scrolling through a feed between tasks. That is why every publication about the Centres must be regular, accessible, sincere – and speak in a comprehensible language about what is actually happening".

During the training session, Kostiantyn focused on the practical dimensions of communication for the Teacher’s Support Centres: how to systematically cover the project's activities, integrate a website with social media channels, and measure content effectiveness. Participants also gained insights into internal and external communication practices, personal branding on social networks, and received practical recommendations for creating high-quality content. Discussions also addressed which channels and formats are most effective for different target audiences, and how to structure a content plan.

"High-quality content is always about emotions. Not about formal results, but about a living process: how children respond, what educators feel, and what changes after each event". – Bohdan Ferens.

The first day concluded with a reflective session, during which each participant reviewed the ground covered and articulated personal insights and requests for the following day.

The second day of training commenced with a discussion of the digital ecosystem of the southern educator. Serhii Sydorenko, an informatics instructor at Vocational Technical School No. 44 in Myrhorod, presented the topic of Google Workspace for the contemporary teacher: "An Ecosystem of Productivity and Digital Autonomy". Participants explored which digital tools and resources can serve as reliable allies for teachers under current conditions – from the organisation of remote learning to the maintenance of their own resource base.

The subsequent block evolved into a genuine "Artificial Intelligence Laboratory": participants not only familiarised themselves with the theoretical foundations of working with AI, but also acquired the fundamentals of prompt engineering – the skill of formulating effective queries to language models for the resolution of real pedagogical challenges.

The culminating activity of the training was a practical exercise entitled "Centre Navigator", which synthesised all the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the programme. Teams of participants developed activity models for their respective Teacher Support Centres and subsequently presented their work to colleagues.

The event concluded with a formal summing-up and the presentation of certificates – a symbol of each participant's readiness to become an agent of change within the educational community of their municipality and region.

"When we speak of the development of education, we must first and foremost speak of people – of educators who work at the very limits of their capacity. This Training of Trainers is an attempt to create for future trainers a space of trust, understanding, and professional dialogue, so that they, in turn, may create such a space for teachers", – emphasised Project Manager Liudmyla Kornuta.

The Training of Trainers for Teacher’s Support Centre facilitators proved to be not merely a learning event, but a significant milestone in the systemic effort to support educators in Southern Ukraine. Looking ahead, training sessions for educators of the South will be conducted at Teacher Support Centres in Kherson, Mykolayiv, and Odesa regions, where teachers will be able to receive both methodological and psychological support.

A great deal of work lies ahead in supporting the educators of the South. Yet the most essential achievement has already taken place: a community of people has formed who are ready to stand alongside a teacher in their most difficult moments. For education today is not only about knowledge. It is about resilience, trust, and humanity. And it is from gatherings such as these that the restoration of the educational landscape of the country begins. It is our conviction that the trainers who have undertaken this journey carry with them not merely knowledge and tools, but a genuine flame of inspiration – one capable of warming the hearts of the exhausted yet indomitable educators of the South.

The event was conducted within the framework of the joint UNICEF and at NGO "Progressive and Strong" project "Strengthening Teaching and Learning Processes in the Southern Regions of Ukraine".