Davyd is a geography mentor in the StudMentor program. This is a story about how one good decision changed not only his life, but also the lives of the students he teaches.
– How did you become a mentor?
Before the full-scale invasion, I had been working as a teacher for three years. Since 2022, our country has faced even more issues related to territories, but as a teacher, I’ve always been most concerned about problems in education.
At some point, I began to feel I wasn’t doing enough. That’s when I realized the simplest way to help was to join volunteer projects. There are many occupied and frontline areas where children need access to quality education. That’s why I decided — this is my path.
– What does being a teacher mean to you?
In Ukraine’s educational paradigm, there’s a stereotype that a teacher is only about academic knowledge. But for me, a teacher is someone who not only teaches, but also guides, listens, and walks alongside their students.
– What should teachers focus on most?
A teacher is, above all, an empathetic person with emotional intelligence. Since we live in uncertain times, we need to pay close attention to the psychological state of the children we teach.
If you walk into a lesson — online or offline — and see that the students are not emotionally ready to learn, that they need support, then the right thing to do is not to push through the material, but to pause and talk with them about what’s on their minds. In a way, that too is learning.
– What advice would you give a teacher about to lead their very first class?
A teacher should be the same person in the classroom as in real life. Share your experiences. And, as Ukrainian educator Mykhailo Sukhomlynskyi once said, become friends with your students: support them, help them, and build trust together.
Begin this journey with conversation. Tell your story, share funny or sad moments, even your failures — things that show you’re not perfect. You’re just like them, but with something new to share.
“And one more important thing: when you start working with children, don’t enter the relationship as teacher–student, but as learner–learner. Because I see now that children have taught me a lot too. The key is to be open enough to learn from them and not ignore those lessons. If you manage that, the relationship will always be strong.”
