The CLAYSS Uruguay participated in “Experiences in Solidarity Service-Learning: 10 years of CLAYSS training educators”

The meeting was held on 28th November as part of the Conference on Research in Education Training: Towards a University of Education.

Enrique Ochoa, Executive Director of CLAYSS, opened the panel with a welcome address, followed by presentations by Luis Garibaldi, consultant to the Minister of Education in Uruguay; Yeni Blanco, member of the teaching team at the Teacher Training Institute in San José and representative of the SSL project “Tejiendo redes en la Comunidad [Weaving Networks in the Community]”; and Marianela Fernández Villa and Omar Sellanes from CLAYSS Uruguay. Rosita Angelo, Director of Educational Planning at the Teacher Training Centre, the host institution, moderated the discussion.

During the session, CLAYSS Uruguay team presented the main highlights of the process over the last 10 years supporting and training teachers in Uruguay in the SSL approach. In addition, they shared some experiences and projects that have served as a reference for communities and educators throughout the country and presented challenges and projections for a future University of Education in Uruguay.

In his presentation, Luis Garibaldi highlighted the significant achievements of these 10 years of SSL in Teacher Training, emphasizing the support from public education policy-making bodies in Uruguay regarding the proposals of CLAYSS Uruguay, which began in 2007 in Uruguay.

He also pointed out that the terms and conditions of the First Solidarity Education Contest in Uruguay (2007) already highlighted fundamental aspects to design a cutting-edge educational proposal, recognizing projects that contribute to coexistence and solidarity as a fundamental characteristic.

Lastly, Yeni Blanco, from IFD San José, shared the initiative “Networking in the Community,” which began in 2020 with the support of CLAYSS and is now this institute’s core project.