Промоція національної ідентичності та українознавчих наративів серед учнівської молоді в час російсько-української війни

Relevance. In the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war, national-patriotic education, a component of which is military-patriotic education, has acquired significant importance, aimed at forming in the growing generation the desire to defend their homeland; raising the level of Ukrainian national identity; strengthening the linguistic stability of students; strengthening the total Ukrainianization of school youth living in Ukraine and abroad, as well as in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The purpose of the study is an analysis of the creative works of the II International Annual Literary and Art Essay Competition among schoolchildren of 1–4, 5–8, and 9–11 grades, which revealed issues on the current topics “A Soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Who is he?” and “The Image of a Modern Ukrainian Soldier.” Conclusions. The Ukrainian legislative and regulatory framework, which became the basis for the Competition, and its source base were studied. The quantitative and qualitative indicators of the competition essays are on the topics: “A Warrior of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Who is he?” and “The Image of a Modern Ukrainian Warrior” were analyzed. It was shown that the contestants in their creative works comprehensively reflect upon the images of modern defenders of Ukraine, true fighters for the independence of the Ukrainian state. It was found that the content of the competitive essays contributes to strengthening the Ukrainian national identity and patriotic consciousness of Ukrainian citizens, especially the growing generation. It was emphasised that by analyzing and highlighting the images of the warriors of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the heroes of Ukraine, students demonstrate a respectful attitude towards them and their significance for the growing generation. It has been determined that to raise the level of Ukrainian national identity, it is important to return Ukrainian studies to the educational process of primary, secondary, and higher education as an invariant component, which will contribute to the high-quality national-patriotic education of Ukrainian youth and the establishment of Ukrainian national identity.