The ILE team visits Uruguay for the FinnUruSteam project mobility week
Our team was joined by the project coordinator’s from the University of Eastern Finland, Prof. Sirpa Kokko, Kari Sormunen and Päivikki Liukkonen, and we were hosted kindly by our project partners from Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias Universidad de la Empresa (FCA-UDE): Silvana Flecchia, Verónica Perrone, Patricia Añón, Solange De Lema, and Gabriela Varela. The Finnish-Uruguayan partnership aims at joint curriculum development and intensive training in the STEAM approach to teacher education at UEF, JYU and FCA-UDE.
This week with an intense program took us around various schools in Uruguay from kindergarten to university, from sustainability school to teacher training center, all while experiencing the company of our lovely colleagues, exquisite food, and beautiful sights and landscapes of Uruguay!
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Monday
We started off our week with a visit to the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences – UDE , and met with Dean Philip Davies, who welcomed us at the historical campus building. The FinnUruSTEAM project team finally met in-person and our Uruguayan colleagues gave us a detailed introduction to their educational system and guided us on a tour around the campus.
In the afternoon we visited two spectacular educational institutions in Montevideo: The technological Pole (Instituto Superior Polo Educativo Tecnológico) , and Ceibal, Uruguay’s technology center for education innovation .
The technological pole is a public and free institute that focuses on professional technical and technological education, has cutting-edge labs and workshops, and employs innovative pedagogical approaches to technological training.
Ceibal is Uruguay’s digital technology center for education innovation at the service of public education policies. Ceibal promotes the integration of technology to improve learning and foster innovation, inclusion and personal growth. It is known for exceptional programmes and initiatives aimed at enhancing learning, fostering innovation, and promoting inclusive education. One of these programmes is the laptop initiative, started in 2008, through which every child starting elementary school receives a laptop equipped with educational tools and softwares. Ceibal also provides internet access to all public schools in Uruguay, supporting the learning and teaching processes.
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Tuesday
The second day took us on an intense road trip to the city of Fray Bentos in western Uruguay. There, at the Universidad Tecnológica (UTEC) regional centre, our Finnish teams from UEF and JYU delivered presentations on STEAM and the Finnish educational system. We then toured the modern campus, its state-of-the-art facilities, and learned about the institution’s diverse study programs. The UTEC has a close collaboration with the nearby paper factory, UBM, which we have also visited due to their interest in education development in the region and on a national level.
Next to UTEC, we visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site of FrigorÃfico Anglo del Uruguay, which has a museum of the Industrial revolution showcasing the history of the meatpacking plant that once exported meat extract and other meat-based produce worldwide.
Our visit to the Finnish company UPM’s mill provided insight into the operations of bleached hardwood eucalyptus pulp production. However, our primary focus was on the UPM foundation (Fundación UPM) which supports educational projects and training programs that empower local communities.
At Liceo 3 of Fray Bentos, which is a free public high school, we gained insight into the workings of a free public secondary education institution in the area. The center also participates in educational projects with a STEAM focus financed by UPM. The educators at Liceo 3 graciously welcomed us and led us on a tour of the campus and its adjacent garden. We were pleased to confirm the availability of free and reliable broadband Wi-Fi provided by Ceibal, which worked seamlessly. Despite the building's age, the personal touches, including artworks contributed by students, teachers, and parents, created a strong sense of community.
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Wednesday
The third day of our week started with hands-on dual-workshops at the FCA-UDE campus, led by the UEF and JYU teams. The workshops were attended by teachers and teacher educators from various study subjects from secondary and higher education levels!
The first workshop, led by the UEF team (Sirpa Kokko, Kari Sormunen & Päivikki Liukkonen) delved into the role and meanings of A(rts) in STEAM learning. Through identifying culturally relevant phenomena and brainstorming their relations to STEM contents, we explored locally meaningful STEAM learning possibilities.
In the second workshop, the JYU team (Kristóf Fenyvesi, Orsoloya Tuba & Matias Mäki-Kuutti), underlined the significance of concrete and hands-on exploration in education, hosting a fascinating construction and exploration of connections between geometrical shapes and how they appear in nature, as illustrated by a STEAM workshop around a soccer ball structure, which is the equivalent of the Carbon-60 molecule with significance in architecture and design and many more areas.
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Thursday
The fourth day of the week included another road trip for our teams, this time we went to an incredibly innovative sustainable school in Jaureguiberry, which is a public school in the Canelones Department north of Montevideo. The school is completely autosufficient in heating, drinking water, and electricity, and has been built utilising mostly recycled materials.
The school uses solar panels with batteries that power the entire complex, rainwater-harvesting roofs which provide all water, heating vents and air conditioning systems that operate without the need for machinery, and a school garden where students grow their own crops as part of the curriculum!
After this, we had the opportunity to visit the MACA museum (Museo de arte contemporáneo Atchugarry) founded by sculptor Pablo Atchugarry, which showcased Uruguay’s incredible contemporary art. This recently opened museum resides in Punta del Este and extends to the nearby park with amazing architecture! Conversations about the use of museums for educational purposes gained momentum, particularly spurred by colleagues from Finland. Of note was the success of the 'The World At Play' interactive exhibition in engaging over 1000 students in Jyväskylä (Link).
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Friday
The last day of our action-packed exploration in Uruguay brought us first to IPA (Instituto de profesores Artigas), the largest teacher training institute in the country. There, we were given an excellent introduction to Uruguay’s teacher education system, and also heard about current trends, concerns and development plans in Uruguayan teacher education. One concern is the high secondary school dropout rates in Uruguay.
Our week of visits was wrapped up by a visit to the Crandon Institute, a private bilingual educational centre, which spans all the way from early childhood education to secondary education. This school stands out as one of the most prestigious and costly institutions in Uruguay, boasting nearly flawless graduation and ongoing study rates, of which they take great pride.
Of course, in addition to these wonderful experiences, throughout the week we also managed to squeeze in some amazing times at various places such as the Playa Fomento seaside resort, Mercado del Puerto and the old city walking tour, the Piriápolis city, swimming at multiple locations, visiting Casapueblo in Punta Ballena, the Seaside Promenade, as well as eating at many stunning locations.
This was an enlightening week and an honour to be hosted by our colleagues from the FCA-UDE and to experience life and education in Uruguay. Thank you to everyone who worked with us, took the time to host us at your private and public schools, institutes, and organisations. Thank you to the staff of the Instituto Polo Educativo Tecnológico, Ceibal, UTEC, Frigorifico Anglo, the UPM mill and foundation, Liceo 3 of Fray Bentos, Jaureguiberry school, the MACA museum, IPA, the Candon Institute, as well as all workshop participants at FCA-UDE campus on Wednesday!
Special thanks to Silvana Flecchia, Verónica Perrone, Patricia Añón, Solange De Lema, and Gabriela Varela for hosting us.
The collaboration doesn’t end here! We have upcoming webinars that showcase diverse perspectives on STEAM education and teacher training. The dates are 15.5., 20.5., and 24.5. 15:00 EET/9:00 GMT-3. Stay tuned for enrolment details by following us on our ILE social medias in YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn!
You can find the project kick-off webinar recordings and the enrolment information to upcoming webinars will also appear .
The FinnUruSTEAM project is funded by the Team Finland Knowledge program (TFK), which aims to create and strengthen collaborations between Finnish higher education institutions and regions and countries selected within the TFK framework to design new operating models for cooperation. The programme funds educational cooperation between higher education institutes through cooperation and mobility projects, and it is funded by the Finnish National Agency for Education.
