Inspired by Pittsburgh, Uruguay’s ‘Eureka! Learning Days’ returns with a spirit of joy and community
Photo above courtesy of E.dúcate Uruguay and Eureka! Learning Days.
When the Remake Learning Days festival happens in Uruguay on April 25-27 this year, more than 50 event hosts are expected to offer hands-on learning experiences to children and their families. Teaching and learning will be happening everywhere, from public spaces like art museums and libraries to simple spots like shady groves of trees at community parks.
But though each of these learning events will leave families with new knowledge, Cecilia de la Paz, organizer of the festival and founder of E.dúcate Uruguay, is quick to explain that not all of the hosts are longtime teachers.
Many are simply creative people who have pledged to share an hour of their time doing what they love in the company of the next generation.
Innovative, pop-up educational events will be happening in different parts of the country, all designed for families to explore and learn together in a playful, accessible and inclusive way. (Interested in hosting an event in Uruguay? It’s not too late to get involved. Send an e-mail to eureka@educate.uy and learn more here.)
Last year’s hosts, many of whom plan to offer events again this year, had a wide range of experiences and skills. “One had an artisanal kombucha factory, another was a makeup artist and another was someone who was working on movement and sound,” de la Paz says. “The invitation was, ‘Would you give 60 minutes of your time to encourage someone from the next generation to share what you love?’”
COLLABORATING AND CREATING
Remake Learning Days, the annual festival of hands-on learning that was originally launched in Pittsburgh in 2016, came to Uruguay after de la Paz connected with Remake Learning’s director, Tyler Samstag, at the 2022 hundrED Summit. It was clear to de la Paz that the festival would be a great fit for her country, so she and her team quickly began inviting community members and teachers to get involved.
To help those who were unsure how to share their skills and passions with young learners and their families, the festival organizers hired a learning design specialist to help plan one-hour workshops. The learning design specialist also helped de la Paz and her team to curate an appealing mix of activities to give families the best possible experience.
Another feature of last year’s festival that will continue: Learning events will happen at a variety of places, including some that children may never have visited before. One event last year, attended by Uruguay’s Minister of Education, was held at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Atchugarry.
“The event was rich in artistic techniques and explored the relationship between emotions and art,” de la Paz says. “The experience was happening in a place where many of these children had never had the opportunity to visit, and really captured what the festival is meant to convey – that learning is for everyone and all families can enjoy learning together.”
That same spirit was in the air at an event held by teachers for teachers at a public park. This professional development event took place under the shade of a cluster of trees, the perfect backdrop for the subject: How can you use nature to create interesting learning activities for kids?
“It was so creative,” de la Paz says. “They had stations under different types of trees.”
An enthusiastic crowd turned out for the event, which was “an opportunity for teachers to learn and an opportunity for people that were doing very cool things to have much more visibility,” she says. “It’s kind of like you’re giving space to a community that didn’t have a space before.”
INVITING NEW VOICES
As this year’s festival nears, de la Paz is enjoying helping new event hosts realize that they have something valuable to teach.
“You never know what you’re gonna trigger in someone – in a moment, with a word, or just by offering and opening up,” she says. “It’s really important to understand and to acknowledge what those mentors, wherever they pop up, mean to us.”
Learning from a community member can be a powerful thing. And when parents and children do that learning together, research shows that students are more likely to succeed academically, more likely to take advanced science, technology and math courses, and more likely to pursue related careers.
That news comes as a surprise to many families.
Though every family is different, de la Paz says, generally “we are more used to the idea that ‘this is a child activity or ‘this is an adult activity.’ We will drop the child off, and tell me at what time I will pick him or her up.”
The fun of the global Remake Learning Days festival – and its local version in Uruguay, Eureka! Learning Days – is that parents and children can discover new ideas and new skills together, experiencing places in their community that they’ve never seen and reconnecting with spaces they may have forgotten about.
In the wake of COVID, it is especially joyful for people to experience learning beyond their homes or schools, and join in a global celebration.
“It’s one day, everybody at one time, and I think that synchronicity is very important,” de la Paz says. “This is happening in different parts of the world and we are part of this, too. We believe in this. Who holds this flag with us?”