Bullied by colleagues, a middle school teacher resigned after 13 years at a village school. Just months later, she was named Ukraine’s teacher of the year.
Olga Khalepa, 42, a former biology teacher in village Yakovlivka in eastern Kharkiv Oblast, quit her job in September 2020 after the school’s principal and fellow teachers had bullied her for years, mocking her teaching methods.
Four months later, in January 2021, it was Khalepa’s same teaching methods for which she was acknowledged as Ukraine’s teacher of the year by state weekly on education Osvita.
Khalepa would record rap songs about biology, rhyming biological terms in a bid to keep students engaged during the pandemic, when schools shut down in March and many switched to studying remotely.
Even though it would take her on average 8 hours to complete a five-minute video, she believed that “teachers should adapt to new reality and be in tune with children.”
“It couldn’t be pop or bard songs because of their fixed composition of verses and choruses. Rap with its long lyrics suited the best,” Khalepa told the Kyiv Post.
She posted the videos on YouTube and used them as additional material for online classes. In one rap track, she could briefly summarize a 45-minute biology class.
However, the conservative school administration didn’t like Khalepa’s innovative approach. They ignored her and attacked her initiatives — something Khalepa called “a true hell.”
The Kyiv Post reached out to the Yakovlivka school but its representative via phone declined to comment.
Khalepa said that the disrespectful attitude towards her came with a new principal, Julia Vakulenko, four years ago. Vakulenko with a couple of teachers blocked many of Khalepa’s initiatives. But the mockery for rap videos became the last straw that led to the teacher’s resignation.
She said she was told to “know her place” and “give up ‘distracting’ students from studying.” Children were also discouraged from participating in her after-school activities. “Students got reprimands if they showed any will to organize an event with me,” Khalepa said.
At last, Khalepa gave up. “When I handed a resignation letter to the principal, she accepted it silently, with a slight delight,” she said. “At home, I was lying zoned out, depressing,” Khalepa said.
According to Khalepa, after 40 out of 90 children left the school due to numerous complaints about Vakulenko from parents, some teachers and local administration, the principal was fired. She was reportedly accused of negligence of the school — the allegations Vakulenko denied in comments to the media.
No exception
Bullying is not a rare reason for teachers to leave school. Khalepa said that she stays in contact with teachers from all over Ukraine and many of them are forced to quit because of discrimination.
Award-winning school teacher of Ukrainian language and literature Oleksandr Cherkas echoed Khalepa. In 2018, Cherkas was selected as one of the country’s 10 best teachers, according to the Global Teacher Prize of Ukraine. He told the Kyiv Post that he’d also been bullied for using Instagram for teaching.
“Unfortunately, not all schools welcome creativity,” Cherkas said. “‘Black sheep’ often fall victim to bullying,” he said.
Head of the Cedos think tank, Yegor Stadny said that the problem of bullying of creative and innovative people isn’t just happening in the education system — it’s everywhere.
“Creative people meet opposition in any sphere,” Stadny told the Kyiv Post.
Stadny, however, believes that people speak much about negative cases often overlooking the positive ones. “I often hear about schools which welcome and appreciate creative teachers,” he said.
Stadny also thinks that, with her talents, Khalepa will find her place under the sun.
“She became famous and now has more chances to showcase and develop her talents,” he said, adding that the misfortune is that Khalepa’s former students lost a valuable teacher.
Khalepa said her videos were still watched and not just by children. “One doctor commented (under my video) that if adults watched my videos, there’d be fewer foolish questions from the patients.”
According to the teacher, the Yakovlivka school hasn’t found a new biology teacher — a literature teacher is now filling in. Even though the principal is gone now, Khalepa doesn’t want to return because the teachers who bullied her are still working at the school.
Khalepa is considering several propositions to teach online, which come from schools in Kharkiv and other cities. She hasn’t decided on her future yet but will probably accept one of them on a remote basis.
“I love my village and I don’t want to leave it,” Khalepa said. “If I start working at another school full-time, I will probably have to leave my home. Besides, in the city, it will be difficult to find locations for my biology videos.”
“But who knows what will be with us in a year — everything is possible.”
