that’s not something you hear every day about ambitious young Ukrainians. But that’s exactly what participants in the Teach for Ukraine Fellowship do. The NGO sends young specialists for one or two years to teach in small Ukrainian towns. The goal? To close education gaps and provide equal access and opportunities for every child in Ukraine.
For Bukvy media, program participant Nataliya Filonova shared how she dared to move from Lutsk to a village in Kyiv region to improve education quality in local schools.
Nataliya is 29 years old. Before joining the program, she had a successful internship at the University of Gdańsk, worked as a pedagogue-organizer in a school implementing STEAM education projects, and was preparing for postgraduate studies at the University of Warsaw.
“My family has Slovak roots. After World War II, Soviet authorities relocated my grandmother’s family from Czechoslovakia to Volyn. Once, I learned about a program at the University of Warsaw studying Central European countries and languages, so I started preparing for the exams. While preparing, I stumbled upon Teach for Ukraine. After reading their mission and concept, I had no doubts — I had to join,” Nataliya recalls.
She passed several selection stages and eventually moved to teach Ukrainian language and literature at Grebinkivskyi Lyceum in Kyiv region.
“During the program, the organizers really take care of participants — we have regular trainings, mentors, lectures, and receive a stipend so we don’t have to worry about finances and can fully focus on work. But once you get into the program, it’s a bit of a lottery,” the teacher explains.
“Some participants are lucky to get good living conditions immediately, some not. For example, I struggled to find housing and with its quality. Participants work in villages or small towns — not Kyiv or regional centers where the rental market is easier. For the first month, I lived several kilometers away from the school where I worked. The bus ran once an hour and often not on schedule — getting to work and back was quite a challenge. Later, the school principal helped me find a place very close — I could walk to work in 15 minutes. But there was no water in the house at all. I bought water for cooking at the supermarket,” Nataliya says.
She has been teaching for three years now. Although the program invites teachers for one or two years, participants can stay longer if they wish. Nataliya admits that if it weren’t for her love of teaching, adapting to this new reality would have been much harder. Sometimes it’s tough — staying late to check notebooks and preparing fresh, engaging lesson materials every time.
“As soon as I started teaching, I noticed many students used ‘ready-made homework answers’ books, so I decided to create my own homework exercises. For example, I asked them to make an Instagram bio for a writer we studied. This helped them remember key biographical facts in an interesting way and avoid cheating. But some parents didn’t understand this and were upset because I gave such assignments instead of ‘homework from the book,’” the teacher shares.
Recently, Nataliya enrolled in postgraduate studies. Though it took four years, she fulfilled her dream. Due to academic workload, she changed schools to one with fewer teaching hours. Now she teaches in the village of Borodianka.
“Children often write about occupation and their pain in essays. Once I asked students to write a letter to their favorite literary character. In one letter, a student wrote about a destroyed home and how much precious things were there for a child,” she says.
Having experience working with children traumatized by war, Nataliya became a trainer for the Educational Sup program, offering free lessons to help children overcome learning losses.
“As a tutor, I look for triggers in children that prevent them from learning as well as before the full-scale invasion. On one hand, it’s valuable to realize you do something meaningful for children affected by war. On the other, it’s a useful experience for me as a teacher to learn how to approach kids experiencing stress,” Nataliya says.
Anyone with a bachelor’s degree and strong knowledge of a core school subject for grades 5–11 can join the program, ready to move to a small town for a year (with possibility to extend). Pedagogical education is not required but candidates must pass six selection stages. A mandatory stage is the “Summer Institute” — 210 hours of training including live work with children. A mentor supports participants throughout. Monthly income includes a teacher’s salary plus a 10,000 UAH stipend for fulfilling program conditions.
This spring, Teach for Ukraine invites motivated young people to apply.
The material is made in partnership with Bukvy
