Pittsburgh’s Remake Learning network goes global
Good learning
After recently earning a prestigious international prize, Pittsburgh’s Remake Learning network plans to go global.
The collaborative, which brings educators and their peers together to ignite equitable learning opportunities for students during a time of rapid social and technological change, will play host next year to festivals in Doncaster, England, and Christchurch, New Zealand.
The events are similar to the local springtime Remake Learning Days, which since 2016 have engaged more than 150,000 families in hands-on learning experiences.
The network, which works out of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit in Homewood, was one of six recipients from five different countries of a 2022 WISEAward.
Sponsored by the Qatar Foundation in one of the most prosperous countries in the Arab world, WISE — an acronym for World Innovation Summit for Education — recognized winners for their innovative approach to pressing educational issues and positive social impact.
Remake Learning director Tyler Samstag said as an award finalist, it validates the vision, commitment and boldness of many across the Remake Learning community, which includes partners from K-12 education and higher education, as well as the high-tech sector and community-based organizations.
“Over the last 15 years, Remake Learning has built a network of people, projects and organizations committed to rethinking when,
where and how young people learn in the Pittsburgh region,” he said. “Our work has transcended individual efforts.
“This expansion internationally is the result of cities from around the world recognizing how the Pittsburgh region is approaching learning as an ecosystem, and looking to replicate the model.”
Samstag said, for instance, the relationship with Doncaster started with conversations over Zoom, leading to a strong partnership that saw delegations from the two cities visiting each other over the summer and fall.
“In the coming year, we are eager to see growth in the number of events, grant opportunities offered and people who feel connected because of the network,” he said.
Founded in 2007, Remake Learning began as an informal gathering of a small group of people, who met over coffee and pancakes at a Pamela’s Diner to discuss how they might work together to transform learning across southwestern Pennsylvania.
Since then, it has grown to a network of more than 1,200 members and provided funding of more than $7 million to catalyze hundreds of learning experiences in schools, museums, libraries and community spaces.
Hatch Partners in Play, a Wilkinsburg art center, has been among the recipients of the network’s Moonshot Grants, which challenges applicants to envision what they hope learning will look like 10 to 20 years in the future. More than $1 million has been awarded to grantees each of the last two years.
In 2021, Hatch used its grant to implement a pilot program at the Faison K-5 School in Homewood with three partner educators and nearly 60 students to prioritize extended play in kindergarten and first grade classrooms.
“As two-time Moonshot Grant recipients, we are grateful to the Remake Learning network for understanding how essential creative play is to the development of the young child and for catalyzing our shift from out-of-school space to a more equitable, accessible and innovative in-school Play Studio,” Hatch founder Shannon Merenstein said.
Samstag, who has directed the network since 2020, said Hatch exemplifies how a partnership can lead to new opportunities for young people.
“We make lots of little bets on the future, supporting and nurturing new ideas, no matter how small, that educators and other caring adults may have to benefit learners,” he said.