Last February 24 we knew that it would be a hard day in the Institute of Guissona. We woke up to the news of the start of the Russian military occupation of Ukraine. War had broken out. The ukrainian warin Guissona, It’s not “just another war” or a distant war 3,000 kilometers away. This aberration has become a proximity conflictsince this is where the largest community of Ukrainians in Catalonia is and, therefore, we are the institute with the most students of Ukrainian origin.
Days before the occupation, the questions they put to us teachers were about whether the war would break out. The answers were not easy. Although history teachers We talked about past wars, little did we imagine that it was going to be our turn to get wet and apply, in our answers, the famous competition 3. The one that says: “Interpret that the present is a product of the past, to understand that the future is the result of current decisions and actions.”
As teachers, our response could become a double-edged sword since an affirmative answer could generate anguish (given that everyone has family or friends there) and a negative answer could generate a sense of tranquility and security (that nothing had to be said). see with the news that reached them from the Ukraine).
The start of the war occurred while we were working on the First World War in 4th ESO and Baccalaureate. A macabre parallelism that shakes, especially when we enter the classrooms and see the silent students, worried and with some tears that say it all.
But since the outbreak of the war, the questions have changed and revolve around the “why”. It is at this point that a teacher knows to skip the annual schedule and focus on the real concerns of the student body.
Our task has been to explain how we have come to this (competence 3), and not only to students in the 4th year of ESO or Baccalaureate. The historical conflict goes through all educational levels and, remembering it, they end up verifying what the aforementioned competition is for. As teachers we feel good, despite the convulsive period we are experiencing in the classrooms, when we realize that the students, by themselves, interpret that, now yes, “the future is the result of current decisions and actions” and they come to their own conclusions, ranging from the most optimistic (they will make peace) to the most pessimistic (third world war).
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From the Social Services Department we also reinforce the necessary accompaniment of students from Religion or Culture and Values, where paradoxically it is the students who are giving us life lessons. Can you imagine the look on our faces when, speaking of values such as help or kindness, they give you an example of family and friends who have gone to Ukraine to fight? How do you respond when asked if we would leave our comfort zone and leave our families to go fight? It is at this moment when you have to control your tears and you are aware that the work of a teacher goes beyond a grade at the end of the course.
Eduard Mayora, head of the Social Department of the Institute of Guissona