Ukrainian teacher in the top ten of the Global Teacher Prize

Artur Proidakov, a teacher of Ukrainian language and literature from the Luhansk region, was named one of the ten best educators in the world by the Global Teacher Prize. “Smart Osvita” has worked with Artur on several projects: the “Now I Know” catch-up classes, the “Stay with Ukraine” project, and the “Learn with Your Ears” audio lessons.

For the latter project, Proidakov recorded 5 podcasts: 2 on the Ukrainian language and 3 on literature:

Ukrainian Folk Ballads. “Oh, an arrow flew” – 9th grade

• what are the genre features of Ukrainian folk ballads?
• types of ballads: mythological, historical, social, family, and domestic
• analysis of the family ballad “Oh, an arrow flew”

Family and household songs. “The moon is in the sky, the stars are shining…”. “Blackthorn blooms, blackthorn blooms…” – 9th grade

• what is folklore?
• what are the signs of folklore?
• three groups of folk songs: calendar and ceremonial, social and domestic, and family and domestic
• what is the difference between folk lyrical songs?
• analysis of the song “The Moon is in the Sky, the Stars Shine…”
• analysis of the song “The Blackthorn Blossoms, the Blackthorn Blossoms…”

“Two Colors” by Dmytro Pavlychko – 11th grade

• how Dmytro Pavlychko wrote poems, screenplays, and songs
• how he was in the UPA, the People’s Movement of Ukraine, and became one of the authors of the “Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine”
• the history of writing and performing “Two Colors”, as well as what the red and black colors in work symbolize

Direct and indirect speech – 9th grade

• direct and indirect speech: how to distinguish between them, turn the former into the latter, and what punctuation marks to use
• all on examples from the works of Serhiy Zhadan

Spelling mistake: apostrophe, soft sign, simplification – 10th grade

• where to put the apostrophe correctly
• where to write a soft sign and where not to write it
• how to simplify the consonant groups -zhdn, -zdn, -stn, -stl, -skn, -zkn and more

You can listen to all 5 lessons here.

The teacher was also a guest on our “Dopamine for Education” podcast project and told us how to teach modern children the Ukrainian language and literature, why language is our weapon, and shared his personal life hacks in teaching. You can listen to the podcast and read its text version on the NUS website.

The name of the best teacher in the world in 2023 will be announced on November 8 at the Global Teacher Prize ceremony. The entire “Smart Osvita” team is rooting for Artur.

“It’s tough to believe and realize.

10 people on planet Earth. 10 educators.

And I, a Ukrainian teacher, am among these 10.

It inspires and motivates me.

It means that I am doing everything right.

And thousands of Ukrainian teachers are also

doing the right thing by continuing to work,

preserving values even in the face of the challenges

of a full-scale war,” – says Artur.

Source: Osvitoria