Cooperative Development as a Means for Supporting Ukrainian EFL Teachers During the War

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Set against the profound precarity and disruption of Ukrainian higher education during Russia’s war against Ukraine, this study examines how 9 university English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers sustained their professional lives and wellbeing through participation in a Cooperative Development (CD) initiative within a language teacher association. The study encompasses a secondary thematic analysis of transcripts from a 9-month online CD project comprising 10 structured, non-evaluative peer-support sessions in which participants alternated Speaker, Understander, and Listener roles to reflect on their professional lives through narration and dialogue. The findings showed that CD offered substantial affordances for Ukrainian EFL teachers working during wartime (regardless of their location) by facilitating emotional expression, building connectedness, and providing a safe, non-judgmental space that supported their wellbeing and promoted reflection. Participation also contributed to the development of empathetic communication, reflective skills, and confidence/motivation, although teachers initially faced challenges adapting to unfamiliar CD roles and the non-advice-giving nature of the approach. The implications of the findings for teachers working in crisis- or conflict-affected settings are discussed.