Today, vocational education and training is not only about acquiring a new profession. For veterans, persons with disabilities, internally displaced persons, and people affected by the war, education can become an important step toward a new start in life — restoring stability, confidence, and the ability to plan for the future.
On 18 May 2026, the webinar “Veterans in Vocational Education and Training: How to Build Interaction” took place. The event was organised by the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine (NAPD) in cooperation with Christoffel-Blindenmission Christian Blind Mission e.V. (CBM) within the project “Inclusive Vocational Education and Training: Improving Training for Veterans and People with Disabilities,” which is part of the Skills4Recovery Multi-Donor Initiative.
More than 80 participants representing 40 vocational education and training (VET) institutions joined the webinar. They included administration representatives, teachers, masters of vocational training, and specialists who work with learners on a daily basis and witness how the war is reshaping people’s needs within the educational environment.
The webinar speaker was Anna Havrylenko — a certified MhGAP trainer, lecturer at the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, and practicing doctor.
The webinar focused on how VET institutions can become not only places of learning, but also safe, inclusive, and psychologically supportive environments for veterans, people with disabilities, internally displaced persons (IDPs), military families, and people who have experienced trauma.
“Vocational education and training can become for a veteran not merely a form of education, but a point of return to civilian life. However, this requires not pity or heroization, but respect, predictability, and clear rules of interaction,” Anna Havrylenko noted.
It Is Important to See the Person Behind the Behaviour
One of the key topics of the webinar was the so-called “challenging behaviour.” In an educational environment, it may manifest itself in different ways: sharp reactions, withdrawal, distrust, conflict-proneness, fatigue, or difficulties with concentration.
However, such behaviour is often rooted not in a lack of willingness to learn, but in experiences of war, trauma, injury, loss, chronic stress, or constant psychological strain.
The approach discussed during the webinar can be summarized simply: not “What is wrong with this person?” but rather “What has this person experienced, and how can we build safe and supportive interaction?”
“A teacher does not have to become a psychologist. But he or she can really do a lot: speak calmly, explain the rules clearly, avoid pressure or humiliation, and never force a person to talk about traumatic experiences. These are basic things, yet they are precisely what create a sense of safety,” the trainer emphasized.
Psychological Safety Is Part of a Barrier-Free Environment
When accessibility is discussed, people often mention ramps, shelters, adapted classrooms, or accessible learning materials. However, for veterans and people who have experienced trauma, psychological safety is no less important.
This means clear rules, calm communication, predictable actions, and the absence of humiliation, pressure, or coercion to talk about personal experiences.
During the webinar, participants discussed triggers — situations, sounds, words, or actions that may provoke a strong emotional reaction. These may include sudden loud noises, a commanding tone of voice, public criticism, chaotic or unclear rules, or the invalidation of a person’s experiences.
Supportive interaction begins with simple things: speaking calmly, briefly, and clearly; avoiding pressure; giving a person a choice; and refraining from using pity or heroisation.
It is also important to remember the language of respect. Appropriate wording includes: a person with a disability, a veteran, or a person who has experienced trauma. Such formulations do not reduce a person solely to their experience, status, or health condition.
“It was important to hear that support is not always about large-scale decisions. Sometimes it is the tone of voice, a brief explanation, an opportunity to pause, or the ability to make a choice without pressure. These are things that educational institutions can start implementing already now,” shared one of the webinar participants.
When a Crisis Situation Arises
A separate part of the webinar focused on crisis communication and de-escalation — situations in which a person is experiencing severe stress, conflict, or an acute emotional reaction.
In such moments, it is important not to escalate the situation further: speak slowly, avoid shouting, arguing, humiliating remarks, or standing too close to the person, and communicate one clear message at a time.
For example, instead of saying, “Don’t panic,” it is better to say: “I’m here with you. Put your feet on the floor. Breathe slowly.”
Instead of saying, “Don’t you dare speak like that,” you can say: “I am ready to continue the conversation when we are both no longer shouting.”
Such phrases do not invalidate a person’s emotional state; rather, they help restore a sense of stability, safety, and control.
Inclusive Safety in Educational Institutions
Safety during emergencies is another critically important issue for vocational education and training (VET) providers in wartime conditions.
Instructions, evacuation routes, and crisis response protocols must take into account the needs of people with physical, sensory, cognitive, and psychosocial impairments. This applies not only to persons with disabilities, but also to veterans, people recovering from injuries, and individuals experiencing anxiety reactions or acute stress.
“After the webinar, it became much clearer that safety is not only about an evacuation route. It is also about how we communicate with a person during a stressful situation, whether we avoid touching them without permission, whether we explain our actions, and whether the team has a clear response algorithm,” said one of the webinar participants.
Teachers Also Need Support
Supporting others is difficult when professionals themselves are exhausted. That is why the webinar also focused on the psychological resilience of teaching staff.
Chronic fatigue, irritability, emotional detachment, and emotional exhaustion may all be signs of burnout. At the same time, constant exposure to other people’s pain and traumatic experiences may lead to secondary traumatization.
That is why it is important for teachers to maintain professional boundaries, understand the scope of their role, know when to refer a person to a qualified specialist, and take care of their own well-being. This is not a sign of weakness, but part of professional responsibility.
Systemic Change, Not a One-Time Webinar
This webinar became part of a broader effort carried out by the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine (NAPD), in cooperation with CBM, to strengthen inclusion in vocational education and training (VET).
As part of the project, training sessions have already been delivered for teachers, masters of vocational training, and administrative teams of VET institutions. Institutional teams also received supervisory and professional support to help them gradually integrate inclusive approaches into their daily work.
This webinar complemented the previous stages of the project and focused specifically on interaction with veterans, persons with disabilities, and learners who have experienced trauma
The overall goal of this work is to ensure that inclusion in vocational education and training becomes a sustainable practice — from admission and the very first conversation to learning, support, programme completion, and transition to employment.
Because truly barrier-free education is not only about physical access to a classroom. It is about having the opportunity to learn without fear, with respect for one’s lived experience, and with confidence in the future.
The project “Inclusive Vocational Education and Training (VET): Improving Training for Veterans and People with Disabilities” is being implemented by the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine (NAPD), jointly with Christoffel-Blindenmission Christian Blind Mission e.V. (CBM), with financial support from the European Union, Germany, Poland, Estonia, and Denmark as part of the Skills4Recovery Multi-Donor Initiative, which is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Solidarity Fund PL (SFPL).
