Experiences of the Polish teachers of primary schools in working with war refugee students from Ukraine – selected problems, limitations and implications for pedagogical practice

ABSTRACT

The ongoing war in Ukraine has caused that millions of people, mainly women and children, were forced to flee their country. Poland, as a country bordering Ukraine, accepted the most refugees. In consequence, Ukrainian school-age children started studying in Polish schools but preparing Polish primary schools (schools which educate children who are 6/7–15 years of age) to accept such an unimaginable number of Ukrainian students became a challenge. This was due to the fact that Polish teachers of primary schools had no previous experience of working with refugee students. The following article presents the results of the research survey conducted among 359 Polish teachers working in primary schools, the majority of whom were women (91.4%) and men (8,6%), aged 25–60 years. The research using a questionnaire technique was conducted in 4 Polish provinces that accepted the largest number of Ukrainian refugees. The aim of the research was to identify the mechanisms hindering education and integration of Ukrainian refugee students attending primary schools and to obtain information on the assistance activities provided by Polish teachers addressed to the refugee students. The developed conclusions could be used in schools in Poland and other countries.

KEYWORDS:

• Refugee student
• teacher
• war
• integration
• education system
• primary schools

Introduction

Ukraine, a democratic country in Eastern Europe, is under war with the Russian Federation for the second time. The first attack by Russia on Ukraine took place in 2014 and affected mainly the eastern part of the country. The other attack occurred on February 24, 2022 and is still in progress. Its range covers primarily the eastern, central and southern parts of Ukraine. Still, the ongoing conflict has resulted in an unprecedented scale of number of inhabitants fleeing the country, mostly women with children. Poland, as a country bordering Ukraine, accepted the largest number of refugees. According to the data from the Polish Border Guard, from the beginning of the war on February 24, 2022, to July 2, 2023, almost 12.5 million Ukrainian citizens crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border. Furthermore, it is estimated that there are currently over 1.5 million of Ukrainian refugees in Poland, mainly women and school-age children (UNHCR 2023). Generally, over two million children from Ukraine crossed the border into neighbouring countries in search of safety (UNICEF 2022a). Altogether 2.5 million children were internally displaced, which means that over 60% of Ukrainian children in total left their homes (UNICEF 2022b). The data collected by the UNICEF show that many children who came from Ukraine were not educated in the national school systems of the receiving countries. As of July 31, 2022, an estimated 650,000 Ukrainian children living as refugees in 12 host countries had still not been covered by national education systems (UNICEF 2022c).

Not all of those at risk of war managed to escape, some stayed in their places of residence. The UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell stated that ‘the war has caused one of the fastest large-scale displacements of children since World War II’. This is a grim milestone that could have lasting consequences for generations to come. Children’s safety, wellbeing and access to essential services are all under threat from non-stop violence (UNICEF 2022b). As the number of children running away from their homes continues to increase, it is important to remember that each of them needs protection, education, safety and support (UNICEF 2022b). According to the EU estimates, almost half of those fleeing Ukraine are school-age children.

Background

A significant number of war refugees came to Poland because, beside the common border, the Polish and Ukrainian nations share cultural and linguistic closeness, and Ukrainians, even before the outbreak of the war, would come to Polish cities in large numbers in search of work and a better life. Consequently, Poland became the first and often the final stop for Ukrainians fleeing the war. The Polish government considered providing them with medical care, means of subsistence and access to education as a priority for the arriving refugees. So far, Poland had exhibited little cultural diversity, as it was Poles who would emigrate to other countries in large numbers (Janicka and Kaczmarczyk 2016; Lustanski 2009; Spigelman 2013). However, recent years have been associated with a huge increase in the number of immigrants as a result of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. For the first time, the Polish education system faced such a challenge: providing appropriate conditions for children and youth from Ukraine. According to the education law in force in Poland, children and youth from 7 to 18 years of age are subject to compulsory schooling and, therefore, Ukrainian children have the right to study in Polish schools (Journal of Laws 1991, No. 95, item 425, see: https://www.prawo.vulcan.edu.pl/przegdok.asp?qdatprz=akt&qplikid=1). The data gathered from the Polish Educational Information (SIO) show the exact number of Ukrainian students in Poland. As of February 14, 2023, there are 187.9 thousand in the Polish schools and kindergartens, i.e. those children and youth who came to Poland after the Russian aggression against their country. At the end of April 2023, the Polish Ministry of Education and Science reported that there were over 193,000 Ukrainian students in the Polish educational system (see: https://www.prawo.pl/oswiata/ukrainskie-dzieci-w-polskich-szkolach,520015.html).

As in many other European Union countries, there is an integration model in the field of emigration policy in Poland. Foreign children are supposed to attend school together with children from the host country, and they are admitted to classes according to their age or attend lower classes. The necessary assistance in learning a new language is provided as part of additional language classes (Bharti 2022; Januszewska 2017). Social integration takes place through integration in the school environment, i.e. the priority is to include refugee students in the social life of the school, while opening up to their presence in the institution of the entire school community (Baranowska 2021; Slany and Strzemecka 2015). A properly functioning education system should implement the assumptions of intercultural education and be the basis for the development of an individual, open to discovering and respecting all forms of cultural diversity (Portera 2019). The responsibility for implementing educational and integration solutions in this area rests primarily with teachers.

Children at war time

According to global demographic data, in 2016–2018 alone, 32 million children were forced to leave their homes due to war or other types of armed conflict. These children were mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, and Burma (Murray 2019). Since the Russian invasion, a huge number of Ukrainian children have also been forced to leave their homeland. These children have become victims of war, deprived of a happy childhood and carefree fun with peers and family. It is especially typical of refugee children to experience cultural mourning caused by the loss of people or objects important to them. This in turn affects their psychophysical functioning and is reflected in their roles as students. They experience common difficulties in focusing on the discussed content, which leads to learning failures, reluctance to learn Polish, which additionally reduces the chance of integration within the school community, or results in high absenteeism from school classes (Jakavonyte-Staškuviene 2023). A significant problem in pedagogical work with culturally different students is the interruption of the personal biographies of migrant children, often the trauma associated with the decision to leave their homeland and the culture shock they experience in their new place of stay (Chrzanowska and Jachimczak 2019).

Refugee students often reveal low motivation to learn, lack of interest, and display communication problems due to emotional experiences related to nostalgia for their family home, friends, and teachers. Therefore, it seems important to provide them with psychological and pedagogical support in connection with the stress, depression or despair they experienced and to include them in school life as soon as possible, integrating them with a group of peers and the school environment to alleviate the effects of the war (Gaywood, Bertram, and Pascal 2020; Laxton et al. 2021).

Educational needs are secondary, but they are essential from the child's point of view. It is worth noting that one of the best ways for children with traumatic experiences to return to normality is regular attendance at school. Contacts with peers and rapid language learning, when exposed to the so-called ‘deep end’, means that they integrate the fastest and become guides for their parents in the new country. In this context, the research conducted by Anne Wihstutz in the German centres for refugee children is important, showing that they need contacts with other children and initiate games that will satisfy their social needs. This is their best cure for overcoming war trauma (Wihstutz 2020).

The concerns of some Polish teachers regarding the increase in problem behaviours in refugee students are justified, especially that they are related to the traumatic experiences accompanying migration to Poland from Ukraine after February 24, 2022. It is not uncommon for children to feel the effects of war before and during their displacement, including the loss of loved ones. Polish psychologist Aneta Baranowska emphasizes that many children, as a result of the experienced events, suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), characterized by: replaying traumatic events (e.g. war) in one or more ways, for example through persistent memories, recurring nightmares, strong anxiety reactions to stimuli associated with events, persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with trauma, decreased general reactivity, sense of alienation, pessimistic assessment of the future, persistence of increased arousal in the form of difficulty in sleeping, outbursts of anger, concentration difficulty, and severe distress and impairment of various areas of social functioning (Baranowska 2021, 231). It is extremely important that refugee children have the opportunity to access education in a given country – it is a way of avoiding social exclusion and overcoming war trauma. This fact was also emphasized in their research by Ankie Vandekerckhove and Jeroen Aarssen (2020), who highlight the necessity of including refugee children in the education systems in the receiving countries and providing them with the help of highly qualified teaching staff who know their specific needs.

Methodology of the research

The research involved 359 teachers of Polish primary schools located in both rural and urban environments in one of four provinces: Lower Silesia, Lublin, Lesser Poland or Masovia. These regions were qualified for research due to the fact they admitted the largest number of war refugees from Ukraine who settled there. The table below presents some selected socio-demographic characteristics provided by the respondents.

The obtained data show that the respondents are mainly teachers from schools located in large (36.5%) and medium-sized cities (24.9%). The majority of teachers who took part in the research work in the Masovian Province. Teachers were employed in various positions, but most often they were subject teachers (54%) and classroom teachers (33.7%). The early childhood education teachers (14.8%) or school club teachers (10.9%) participated in the study less frequently. The fewest responses were gained from specialists such as speech therapists (2.5%) or therapists (4.2%), which was conditioned by the fact that not every facility employs this type of staff.

Another analysed indicator was work experience as a teacher. The dominant group was the one whose seniority at work was over (51.8%). The age and gender of the respondents were also verified. The teaching profession is one of the most feminized professions, which is why it was mainly women who took part in the study (91.4%). Unfortunately, the research shows that the average age of the teacher tends to increase, which has been a growing trend in Poland for a long time. The study involved mainly people over 50 years of age (37.6%) and teachers over 40 years of age (36.2%).

Procedures

The survey was quantitative research due to the fact that it provides a numerical description of trends concerning attitudes or opinions occurring in the population based on the data regarding a sample of the population. This method involves obtaining knowledge about a certain large, often spatially dispersed community in a short time (Sołoma 2002). The study was conducted between September and December 2023, using an original survey questionnaire addressed to primary school teachers. An original tool was developed to match the undertaken research topic because currently there are no Polish standardized measurement tools. The tool addressed to primary school teachers is available at https://forms.office.com/e/xXYDeAtnuL. Furthermore, conducting the research online improved its organisation and reached the planned target groups from four Polish provinces (presented in Table 1). Participation in the research was voluntary and completely anonymous.

Table 1. Socio-demographic analysis of the respondents. Source: Own elaboration.

School location	N	%
Small town (up to 20 thousand inhabitants)	78	21.7
Medium-sized city (20–100 thousand inhabitants)	89	24.8
Large city (over 100,000 inhabitants)	131	36.5
Countryside	61	17.0
Province in which the school was located
Lower Silesia	81	22.6
Lublin	76	21.2
Lesser Poland	86	24.0
Masovia	116	32.3
The teacher’s position
Class teacher	121	33.7
Early childhood education teacher	53	14.8
Subject teacher	194	54.0
School counsellor	31	8.6
Psychologist	12	3.3
Speech therapist	9	2.5
Therapist	15	4.2
After school club-teacher	39	10.9
Other	26	7.2
Seniority in work experience
1 −5 years	44	12.3
5–10 years	46	12.8
11–20 years	83	23.1
Over 20 years	186	51.8
Sex
Woman	328	91.4
Man	31	8.6
Age
Less than 30 years	24	6.7
31–40 years	70	19.5
41–50 years	130	36.2
Over 50 years	135	37.6

The issues related to the functioning of children of war refugees from Ukraine in the Polish educational system are little explored in Polish research and literature. The aim of this study was to describe the assistance and support activities provided by teachers addressing Ukrainian war refugee students. The research issues are presented in a broad context, taking into account the perspective of understanding the impact of the war in Ukraine on the education and behaviour of children and youth. Several questions were implemented to raise awareness of the issues investigated in the research: Do Ukrainian children/youth have problems of an educational and upbringing nature in the Polish educational system? What makes learning most difficult for them? What kind of help do Ukrainian children need and what kind of help do they receive? Have teachers in Polish educational institutions been prepared to provide support to Ukrainian students and how?

The results of the quantitative research were described and summarized in summary tables. To compare the examined parameters, appropriate statistical tests were used, depending on the scale, connection of the samples and the type of distribution of the examined sample. When comparing responses, the Pearson Chi-square test was employed. The mechanism of its action involves comparing expected numbers with the observed numbers. When the differences between the observed and expected values increased, the test reported a statistically significant variation. In all analysed cases, the significance level was p < 0.05.

Results of the research

Educational difficulties in teaching Ukrainian students-refugees

This part of the article presents the results of the research conducted among Polish teachers, the aim of which was to identify the mechanisms hindering the educational process and integration of Ukrainian refugee students attending Polish primary schools, as well as to identify the methods of work and other activities undertaken by Polish teachers for these students.

All respondents declared that there are Ukrainian students in the schools where in which they work; 83% of them admitted that these students have problems of an emotional, educational and upbringing nature. As the surveyed teachers stress, the emotional problems of Ukrainian students are caused mainly by traumatic experiences (15%) and separation from family and friends (29%), which directly translates into their learning problems. Furthermore, these students do not fully understand their current situation, some of them are unable to accept changes and treat their arrival in Poland as temporary. Most do not know Polish, which is the biggest educational and communication barrier with other people in the class. Emotional problems also impact their academic progress negatively, which is visible in the lack of motivation, and even in some cases, lack of interest in learning and reluctance to enter into social relationships with new classmates. Other noted problems include: failure to cope with war trauma, e.g. depression, despair, fear, social withdrawal, denial, rejection by peers, and occasionally aggressive behavior.

The biggest educational, adaptation and integration barrier observed among Ukrainian children is the lack of knowledge of the Polish language (78%). The language barrier makes it difficult for them to learn, especially humanities. Students also have difficulties learning foreign languages based on the Latin alphabet. Besides, not all schools prepared preparatory forms for the refugees to adapt to studying in the Polish system (fewer than 20% of the examined institutions), although it should be obligatory due to the differences in both education systems (Polish and Ukrainian) and in the curricula. In almost 32% of the researched cases, these differences had a negative impact on the schooling of refugee children. Ukrainian students were not able to master the content included in the core curriculum of primary schools, which is particularly important in classes directly preparing students for the eighth-grade exam. Only in schools with fewer foreign children did Ukrainians learn the new language faster.

Another problem that was often observed was lack of interest in the content of classes, low motivation to learn in Polish and causing educational problems (54%). Unfortunately, the lack of interest resulted mainly from a lack of understanding of the taught content and was associated with a lack of motivation to learn in Polish. This in turn was influenced by a low sense of stability and uncertainty as to the family's future intentions regarding their place of residence. The research pointed to a high turnover of refugee children from Ukraine in Polish educational institutions. Some students move between different places in Poland (migrating mainly from rural to urban environments), others return to Ukraine to the areas not affected by direct hostilities.

Furthermore, the dilemmas of refugee students’ parents regarding staying in Poland or returning to their homeland also add as another observed difficulty. What seems positive in the context is that many Ukrainian students remain in both the Polish and Ukrainian (on-line) educational systems. This was the case in 24% of the researched cases, but was associated with study overload and constant fatigue of the student, and thus a lack of willingness to take up additional activities, participate in integration events and other activities organized by schools.

By analysing the indicated difficulties, it was checked whether the location of the school was statistically significant. The data are presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Difficulties of Ukrainian students and the location of the school / Legends: Chi 2 – value of Pearson's Chi square test; *-significant variation at p < 0.05 / Source: Own elaboration.

Problems of Ukrainian students	Total (n = 359; 100%)	School location				Test value
		Country side (n = 61; 16.7%)	Small town (up to 20 thousand.) (n = 78; 21.7%)	Middle-sized city (20–100 thousand) (n = 89; 24.8%)	Large city (over100 thousand) (n = 131; 36.5%)	Chi^2	p
Language barrier	78.3%	63.9%	73.1%	77.5%	88.5%	16.78	0.0008*
Problems in relationships with peers	48.2%	36.1%	39.7%	52.8%	55.7%	9.56	0.0227*
Peer rejection/aggressive behavior from other students	11.7%	13.1%	10.3%	10.1%	13.0%	0.70	0.8733
Different requirements than in the Ukrainian system	31.8%	27.9%	28.2%	29.2%	37.4%	3.07	0.3805
Low motivation to learn, lack of interest	54.0%	34.4%	51.3%	53.9%	64.9%	15.89	0.0012*
Student overload caused by learning in the Polish and Ukrainian education systems (on-line)	24.0%	24.6%	12.8%	16.9%	35.1%	16.74	0.0008*
Lack of support from a psychologist, educator or other specialist	7.0%	1.6%	7.7%	11.2%	6.1%	5.39	0.1454
Failure to cope with war trauma (e.g. depression, despair, fear, emotional problems)	14.8%	8.2%	9.0%	15.7%	20.6%	7.79	0.0505
Experiences of separation from family and friends	28.7%	19.7%	28.2%	27.0%	34.4%	4.61	0.2023

As it turned out, the statistical analysis showed a significant variation in the case of: language barrier (p = 0.0008), problems in relationships with peers (p = 0.0227), low motivation to learn, lack of interest (p = 0.0012) and student’s overload caused by studying in the Polish educational system and, at the same time, in the Ukrainian (on-line) system (p = 0.0008). Statistically, the above difficulties were more often noted by the surveyed teachers from large cities compared to the respondents working in rural areas (Table 2).

This research shows that ignorance of the Polish language or the inability to use it, even at a basic level, affects not only educational, but also social problems. A similar issue regarding the need to learn the language of the country to which refugees arrived was highlighted in the research conducted by educational institutions in Lithuania. Lack of knowledge of the Lithuanian language was one of the main causes of students’ social and cultural exclusion (Poderiene and Tamulionien˙e 2020).

The surveyed institutions also observed a tendency in children to isolate themselves in peer groups consisting of people with the same migration experiences as almost 50% of the Ukrainian students have problems in peer relationships, and almost 12% experience peer rejection or aggression from colleagues. These types of problems are noticed much more frequently in students by school psychologists than by other teachers, which turned out to be a statistically significant difference (p = 0.0042). Problems resulting from a low level of peer integration were visible in the mixed classes with a large number of foreign students. These adapt more easily to a new social environment in smaller classes.

The reluctance of students with migration experience to learn Polish can be viewed through the prism of many aspects, but more attention should be paid to the number of foreign students in the class. Building peer relationships in classrooms is then reflected in the way a child builds his or her identity with different experiences, which is sometimes caused by war, and the perception of his or her role and position in the new environment.

More than half of the surveyed teachers (65%) had no previous experience in working with foreign students. These teachers pointed to many problems in the organisation of the work of educational institutions, which, in their opinion, were not fully prepared to work with refugee students from Ukraine. The problems indicated by teachers prove the complexity of Ukrainian students’ burdens and, therefore, point to the reasons why they find it difficult to stay in another school system.

Due to the admission of students from Ukraine to Polish schools, 67% of teachers introduced changes in the way they work in the classroom. Before the Ukrainian students were admitted to schools, special training was organized for teachers/educators to prepare them to work with war refugee students. Some instruction was addressed to all teachers and some was made in smaller teams. Table 3 lists various forms of training in which the surveyed teachers participated.

Table 3. Trainings in which teachers participated / Source: Own elaboration.

No.	Details of the training	%
1.	Training of all teachers at school in the form of providing information to the whole pedagogical council and in smaller teams on the school education system in Ukraine and differences in primary school curricula.	100.0
2.	Instructing teachers on cultural differences between Poland and Ukraine, other religious traditions, behaviours, customs, preparation for possible difficulties resulting from the lack of knowledge of the Latin alphabet by Ukrainian students.	80.0
3.	Training directed to task teams working with students: a team for psychological and pedagogical assistance, a team for learning Polish, a team for learning science subjects, a team for organising integration activities.	62.0
4.	Training on assessing and classifying students from Ukraine, taking into account curriculum differences (grade scale from 1–12 in schools in Ukraine), other school subjects.	50.0
5.	Individual and group meetings with teachers / teachers from other schools to exchange experiences.	33.0
6.	Other	10.0

Based on the teaching practice, the vast majority of the respondents rated the usefulness of the training as low, which was justified by the complexity of the problems experienced by students of Ukrainian origin and, therefore, the need for individualized help. Each child has different war experiences, a different family situation, develops differently emotionally and socially, which means that they need psychological and pedagogical help tailored individually to their needs, and the provided trainings did not take into account the real needs in this area. The instruction focused on showing the functioning of the educational system in Ukraine and Poland, pointing to the differences between them and possible solutions needed in meeting the educational needs of refugee students from Ukraine.

Support activities undertaken in schools addressed to Ukrainian refugee students in the Polish educational system and implications for educational practice

Most Polish schools employed teachers from Ukraine (47%), teachers who knew Ukrainian (36%) or cultural assistants with knowledge of Ukrainian (17%), which facilitated communication in the initial period of students’ stay at school, when they did not know Polish even at a basic level. Furthermore, it turned out necessary to organize additional classes for refugee students in the subjects that caused the most learning difficulties. Such a need was generated not only by the students’ low knowledge of the Polish language but also by differences in the curriculum in the Ukrainian education system. Students had learning problems due to the change of the teaching system. To implement the proposal, it was important to prepare Polish teachers to work with students who studied in a different system, e.g. by organising specialized training for them. But above all, showing understanding and providing supportive treatment of students on a daily basis. In addition, Polish educational institutions organized material assistance, including providing Ukrainian students with meals in the school canteen (37%), handing over textbooks, notebooks and learning aids (85%). Children with emotional problems who had direct contact with the war and experienced many negative events such as violence, life threatening situations, the need to escape from their own home, or the death of loved ones, were provided with psychological and pedagogical assistance within school (73%) or were referred to specialist centres for help and further diagnostics, e.g. psychological and pedagogical counselling centres or mental health clinics (31%).

Most students came to Poland with one parent, usually their mother and/or aunt/grandmother or other guardian, leaving their father behind in Ukraine. The experiences of war had a strong impact on the children’s psyche, often causing them to withdraw from peer activities and engage in socially unacceptable behaviour. Reactions to severe stress are individual. Each child was a unique case and required individual support. Both younger and older students were observed initiating dangerous games, using violence against other children and recreating difficult situations they witnessed. Mental suffering was visible in the children's withdrawal and lack of contact with teachers, peers and others. The factor that recalled the memory was the material covered during the lesson, conversations about the situation in Ukraine, or even specific symbols and sound signals. It happened that students avoided talking about their problems. The experience of war for refugee children is very difficult because of the ongoing conflict and not knowing when it will end.

School celebrations and integration activities were organized in schools with the participation of students of Polish and Ukrainian origin (41%). Their goal was to make the students familiar with the new school environment, Polish culture, local customs, rules prevailing in a given school, as well as make Polish students get to know the Ukrainian culture, its customs and traditions. The aim of this type of meetings was to propagate tolerance, acceptance of differences and compliance with certain the and norms of a particular country. Educational institutions organized events addressed to all students, such as: Migrant Day, Children's Day, Family Day. Moreover, these activities were supported by everyday school rituals such as singing songs specially selected by the teacher, strengthening the sense of community. The initiative in supporting peer integration in the classroom was demonstrated primarily by teachers. Based on individual experiences in contacts with foreign students and the specific social situation in the classroom, they independently created lesson plans and organized games, thus encouraging new students to be active and overcome communication barriers. Participating in integration activities helped foreign children find their way in the new environment, get to know their peer group, and strengthen their sense of security. The biggest obstacle to organising integration classes was poor knowledge of the Polish language and the reluctance, especially of older students, to participate in this type of initiatives.

Taking into account over a year of experience that the surveyed teachers gained in working with refugee students, it was possible to identify the forms of assistance most needed by Ukrainian students attending Polish schools. As a vast majority of the respondents indicated, Ukrainian students should learn Polish in preparatory classes before being included in classes with students of Polish origin. This type of learning would allow students from Ukraine to get used to the Polish educational system and adapt to the new situation. However, the most important need that should be taken care of in relation to refugee children is their psychological safety, which should include psychological and emotional support as a guarantee of stability. Teachers can help in this activity by cooperating with the child's family and involving it in the integration process. Unfortunately, most Ukrainian children from Ukraine came to Poland only with their mother or guardian, which did not facilitate integration activities. Furthermore, the teachers emphasize the need to conduct the educational classes for Ukrainian parents (41%), making them aware of the needs of their children and motivating them to getting education, suggesting the need for psychological support for entire families (not only students) in order to acquire a comprehensive understanding of the situation and problems of a given family. Many schools organized separate meetings and consultations with parents of Ukrainian children (41%) in order to familiarize them with the requirements of the Polish educational system and the possibilities of seeking help and support.

When examining the forms of assistance addressed to Ukrainian students and their relationship to the location of school facilities, the statistical analysis showed a significant variation in providing students with free meals (p = 0.0179), referring them to specialist institutions for help and further diagnostics, e.g. clinics, psychological and pedagogical institutions or mental health clinics (p < 0.0001), organising an integration meetings/trips for students (p = 0.0454), organising meetings and consultations with parents of refuge children (p = 0.0025), as well as providing students with support from the teaching staff who speak Ukrainian (p < 0.0001). Statistically, the above forms of assistance were provided in a higher percentage in schools located in large cities compared to other towns.

In turn, the selected province and its forms of assistance provided to Ukrainian students showed a significant variation in the form of granting additional Polish language lessons to students from Ukraine (p = 0.0007), providing free textbooks and school supplies (p = 0.0049), arranging free meals (p = 0.0119), additional classes preparing for the eighth-grade exam (p = 0.0182), referring them to specialist facilities for help and further diagnostics (e.g. psychological and pedagogical counselling centres, mental health clinics) (p = 0 .0094), organising meetings and consultations with parents of Ukrainian children (p = 0.0051). Additional Polish language lessons and free textbooks and school supplies also turned out statistically significant, according to the surveyed teachers. They were provided most profusely in schools from the Lower Silesian Province, and the remaining above-mentioned forms of assistance – in schools in the Lesser Poland Province.

Employing assistants in schools who know Ukrainian and help with lessons in the first period of students’ stay at school, when they do not yet know Polish, is an optimal requirement, but difficult to implement due to their small numbers and the fact that parents of Ukrainian students have the right to choose the place of stay, which may hinder access to assistants. Some European studies showed that it is the bicultural staff, rather than mediators and interpreters, who play a key role in the integration process; however, such staff are rare in primary schools. It has once again been confirmed that teachers are not prepared to deal with the challenges of working with refugees who recently arrived in the country (Tobin 2020).

The teachers’ attitude should be open to refugees, free from prejudice and full of empathy. They should not segregate students, but at the same time they are required to be consistent in their actions. It is extremely important to teach tolerance and maintain the norms and rules prevailing at school. The idea that all children have an equal right to education at school, with respect for cultural diversity and experiences, should not only be upheld but also implemented (Alexander 2020; Beacco et al. 2016). In the face of confusion and war, children seek refuge in the arms of adults whom they trust or ask for help in understanding the world around them, which is why good contact with people employed in schools: teachers, pedagogues, psychologists is important.

Discussion

Although refugee crises are nothing new in the world, Poland's experience is unique due to the huge scale of the phenomenon and the numbers of admitted war refugees from Ukraine. Poland had to face a wide range of tasks, such as legislative changes enabling the integration of the refugee population, crisis management, mobilisation and coordination of the response of the ‘whole of society’, as well as adaptive actions taken to the changing needs of refugees. In the first days after the refugees’ arrival, their most urgent needs had to be met. These included rest, a warm meal and a place to sleep. As some studies indicate, after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, no comprehensive, systemic solutions were introduced in Poland, and help for refugees was initiated ad hoc due to the urgent needs in the form of the bottom up initiatives (Lee et al. 2023). Later on, however, it became necessary to provide refuges with systemic assistance that would enable them to become independent and take up work, which involved providing care for Ukrainian children. When entire whole Ukrainian families came, it was assumed that men would work to support the family, and women would take care of the children. However, in the case of the armed conflict, men stayed in Ukraine to fight, and the refugees were mainly women and children. This in turn meant that it was necessary to take care of the families, as well as provide education for the children so that the mothers could go to work. The refugees turned out to be a distinct population with diverse needs, which additionally evolved over time.

The huge scale of migration required significant effort on the part of local governments, schools and teachers. There was a sense of uncertainty in 2022 because Ukrainian refugees arrived during the school year and it was unknown how long they would stay in Poland. Some of them even temporarily returned to Ukraine. The Polish education system did not have any data on how many Ukrainian students would start the school year in the fall of 2022, how many would remain in the system and how many more would arrive due to the ongoing war. These were the factors that made planning and organising the work of schools and teachers difficult, as indicated by the research. The obtained results showed enormous difficulties in organising the work of schools that were not prepared to work with refugee students from Ukraine. More than half of the surveyed teachers (65%) had no previous experience in working with foreign students, which contributed to their challenges in working directly with students in the classroom. A similar problem was observed in their research by Mikołaj Herbst and Michał Sitek (2023), according to which the main weakness of the Polish education system was the lack of teachers’ experience in working with migrant children.

In the opinion of the surveyed teachers, the greatest barrier in educating refugee children was the lack of knowledge of the Polish language even at the basic level, which caused communication and educational barriers, especially in the field of teaching humanities. The refugees also found it difficult to learn foreign languages based on the Latin alphabet. The Polish government's recommendation was to create preparatory classes in which students from Ukraine could learn Polish. However, it was not obligatory and not introduced in all schools. The recommendations listed are not followed by all local authorities, mainly for practical and financial reasons. Thus, most Ukrainian refugees attended regular school classes. This result provides an interesting contrast with other studies that present European integration models formed by top-down policies rather than choices depending on the migration volume and organisational constraints (Pagel and Edele 2022; Tajic and Bunar 2023).

Accordingly, it seems reasonable to postulate that the migrants’ education in the Polish educational system should take the form of the so-called preparatory classes enabling refugees to master the basics of the Polish language necessary for communication, learning and integration. Moreover, the Polish education system should have cultural assistants who, unfortunately, are rarely employed at school, despite the fact that, in accordance with the legal provisions in force since 2009 (Journal of Laws, 2009), schools can employ people speaking other students’ native language to perform the function of teachers’ assistants.

Our own research showed the need to employ cultural assistants who know Ukrainian in schools who could help students during lessons in the first period of their stay at school, when they do not yet know Polish. This is an optimal requirement, but difficult to implement due to the small number of these specialists employed in schools and due to the fact that parents of Ukrainian students have the right to choose their place of stay. Consequently, small local communities rarely have such assistants. The statistical analyses show that Ukrainian refugees more often attended schools in urban communes with relatively high incomes and better-developed accommodation infrastructure. This occurred especially in the first months of the war (Herbst and Sitek 2023). This study and the previous research by Młynek, Andruszkiewicz, and Kulik-Grzybek (2023) showed that it is the teacher who first encounters the problems and difficulties of refugee students and their families. Therefore, it is important to constantly prepare them and improve their qualifications to work in a culturally diverse environment. Factors that help Ukrainian students integrate are teachers’ previous experience in working with students from other countries, Ukrainian-speaking employees, and the presence of Ukrainian language of students from before 2022 (Herbst and Sitek 2023).

Unlike other education systems in Europe, Polish schools have limited experience in educating migrants, so significant innovation and adaptation at local level was required. The research on the integration of migrants in schools highlights the importance of national institutional arrangements towards issues like access to education, the advantages and disadvantages of segregated institutions, and overcoming problems in implementing integration procedures (Crul et al. 2019; Edele et al. 2021; Erling, Gitschthaler, and Schwab 2022; Fandrem et al. 2021; Horgan et al. 2022; Koehler and Schneider 2019; Pagel and Edele 2022; Tajic and Bunar 2023).

The situation in which Poland finds itself in 2022, which is confirmed by the results of this research and the study of Ociepa-Kicińska and Gorzałczyńska-Koczkodaj (2022), indicates a gap in the educational system regarding the lack of ready-made system solutions in Polish education that could be used in this type of circumstances. The Polish experience is a special empirical case that differs in many respects from the cases of other countries (Ociepa-Kicińska and Gorzałczyńska-Koczkodaj 2022). Coordination of many entities was particularly troublesome, new legal solutions and supervision were required. The mass influx of migrants from Ukraine, where a significant number experienced family separation, loss, fear and anxiety about the future, and their experiences of trauma and mental stress related to the armed conflict varied significantly. All this resulted in behavioural problems in children, their fears and sleep disorders. Various reported stress factors concerned inability to meet basic needs, lack of information, and accommodation issues (Lee et al. 2023).

As the research carried out among teachers shows, first of all, it is necessary to ensure the psychological safety of refugee children, which should include psychological and emotional support and the creation of a safe environment. Cooperation with the child's family and including it in the integration process can help teachers in this type of activity. Unfortunately, most children from Ukraine came to Poland only with their mother or guardian, which was not a factor conducive to integration activities. Furthermore, not all schools employed specialists providing professional assistance in this area, which shows that increasing psychological support is necessary. The literature on the migrant inclusion highlights the need for further school reforms because they do not sufficiently take into account the special education and emotional needs of refugee students (Karakayalı et al. 2017; Tajic and Bunar 2023).

In addition to the above-mentioned psychological, emotional, communication and educational problems of Ukrainian students in Polish schools, the importance of school integration should be looked at holistically. The results of the research showed that schools organized ceremonies and special activities with the participation of students of Polish and Ukrainian origin. However, it was teachers who showed the greatest initiative in supporting peer integration in the classroom. Participating in integration activities helped foreign children find their way in a new environment, get to know their peer group, and strengthen their sense of security. The integration activities were definitely not sufficient due to the lack of knowledge or poor knowledge of the Polish language. However, strategies for accepting Ukrainian students in Polish schools varied, and some schools adopted a more systematic approach, e.g. conducting diagnoses or maintaining a balanced proportion of the number of Ukrainian and Polish students in the same class during the instruction process. This is one of many problems in managing the overall process of integrating Ukrainian students into the school community (Herbst and Sitek 2023). The war in Ukraine continues and it is not possible to predict when it will end. However, even after the end of hostilities, families may not immediately return to their devastated homeland. Moreover, the process of assimilation of Ukrainian families in Poland has already begun and it is probable that the mass participation of children from Ukraine in the Polish education system is a long-term phenomenon, independent of the duration of the war.

Conclusion

It seems impossible to predict how long the armed conflict in Ukraine will last and what number of refugee children will remain in Poland. The Polish education system must therefore take into account the need to provide Ukrainian children with general education. This is a task that requires implementing research recommendations, which in turn can be used to develop an educational model for working with students of Ukrainian origin. As the surveyed teachers indicate, it is crucial for refugee students coming to Poland to get educated in preparatory classes/units, which would allow them, first of all, to learn the Polish language and get used to the differences in the educational systems (Polish and Ukrainian). Undoubtedly, the second most crucial task of the school is to develop, implement and disseminate programmes to support the peer integration process of children and youth, aimed at helping them understand the customs and rules characterising foreign classmates. Refugee children’s parents should also be involved in such activities. In addition to eliminating the language barrier and providing integration activities, there should also be support activities from specialists in the field of psychological, pedagogical and therapeutic assistance, as well as cooperation with mental health clinics with experience in working with people after war trauma.

It can be assumed that the Polish society will become much more culturally diverse in the coming years. There will be significantly more foreign children studying in schools. Teachers can play a key role in diagnosing their psychosocial needs and applying appropriate work methods. Therefore, it is recommended to introduce new teaching content into programmes that would prepare teachers to deal with refugees, as well as introduce special courses preparing teachers to work with refugee students. The above-mentioned courses and curriculum content should include issues related to the socio-emotional development of school-age students with war experience and its impact on school and family functioning. In addition, they should take into account the processes of integration, equality and diversity in relation to individual periods of the student’s development.

In summary, priorities for helping refugee students should focus on meeting their basic needs, as this is essential if the child is to regain emotional balance creating a friendly environment for children staying in Polish schools and preparing teaching staff to deal with professional psychosocial intervention in helping refugee children and their families.

The presented research results may be helpful to schools both in Poland and in other countries due to the fact that no one knows how long the war will last and the information from experts regarding its duration and its effects does not provide clear answers. Furthermore, it should be taken into account that some refugees will remain in Poland and solutions will be still needed that can be permanently implemented into the education system. It is worth noting that most European education systems will continue to teach refugee students in the coming years, as many of those who have already arrived are likely to remain in schools. It is also highly possible that new refugee students will arrive. It is therefore important to ask questions and evaluate existing school practices to enable as many students as possible to develop their potential, adapt well and participate in society.

Author contributions

These authors contributed equally to this work. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The study was conducted as part of the project entitled ‘The impact of the war situation on the education and behavior of students of Ukrainian origin studying in Poland and Ukraine’ [agreement no. BPN/GIN/2023/1/00017/U/00001], signed with the National Agency for Academic Exchange) (25.09.2023-24.09.2024).