KSU lecturers held an online webinar "21st Century Skills: adaptation, resilience, interaction"

The invited speakers of the webinar “21st-Century Skills: Adaptation, Resilience, and Interaction” were KSU lecturers Anastasiia Volianiuk and Anastasiia Horlova. The Ukrainian Educational Hub in Chicago invited them to lead the event in recognition of their professional experience and expertise in developing soft skills, motivation, adaptation, and psychological resilience.

Ukrainians from Ukraine, the United States, European countries, and Asia joined the online meeting. The international format of the webinar provided an opportunity to discuss relevant issues of adaptation, professional development, effective communication, and maintaining inner resources in today’s challenging environment.

During the webinar, the speakers focused on three interconnected topics: adaptation, resilience, and interaction.

The first block focused on adaptation as an ongoing process, rather than a one-time event. Participants discussed the concept of the sphere of control and the possibility of influencing their own responses even in situations that cannot be directly changed.

The next thematic block addressed effective interaction and building relationships. Participants explored three key components of interaction: listening, understanding, and reaching agreement. The practical part focused on developing skills such as asking questions, expressing personal needs, setting boundaries, asking for help, and providing feedback.

Psychological resilience was another important topic. The speakers emphasized that resilience does not mean being strong all the time. Rather, it involves the ability to withstand challenging situations, recover after periods of stress, seek support, and adapt one’s strategy when a previous approach is no longer effective.

The webinar had a practical format. Participants completed exercises aimed at becoming more aware of their own workload, identifying resources, and improving communication. In particular, during the “My Backpack” exercise, they identified what creates additional burdens and explored ways to reduce them - asking for help, delegating, taking a pause, giving something up, talking to another person, or organizing their day.

Another practical tool introduced during the webinar was the “Pause Before Reacting (STOP)” technique. It helps participants avoid automatic reactions, distinguish facts from assumptions, evaluate their own interpretation of a situation, and choose the most constructive way to respond.

The final block focused on motivation and action. Within the framework of the “10-Minute Rule,” participants were encouraged to replace large goals with small, concrete steps - for example, instead of setting the goal of “learning German,” start by learning five new words, or instead of “finding a job,” start by finding one vacancy.

In conclusion, the speakers emphasized the importance of focusing on what we can influence, letting go of what lies beyond our control, listening to and understanding others, reaching agreements, taking time to recover, and not being afraid to ask for help.

The event was organized as part of the cooperation between Kherson State University and the NGO “Association for Innovative and Digital Education” (AIDE) in accordance with the Memorandum of Cooperation.

We express our sincere gratitude to our partners for their support of joint educational initiatives, as well as to Viktoriia Serhiichuk, Head of the Ukrainian Educational Hub in Chicago, for the effective coordination of the event, the development of international cooperation, and the promotion of Ukrainian education abroad.