EAFIT Children’s University was established in 2005. At that time, this initiative began to take form and since then it has had multiple changes in its way to proceed. At the beginning, this project had, as a conceptual basis, the reading of the book: A University for the Children. Eight scientists explain to children the greatest world enigmas, from the University of Tubingen, Germany, edited in 2004. During these five years of work, EAFIT Children’s University has evolved in three stages as follows: Meetings (for children from 7 to 13 years old); then they move to Expeditions (for children from 12 to 15 years old) with a length of four consecutive years. The main goal of this project is to build research and learning spaces where the main interest is to develop a non-conventional methodology that points to recreational activity, joy and creativity. The university campus (its classrooms, laboratories and library) becomes an area inhabited by children during formal academic periods. Until now, the following population has participated in each of the three stages: 988 kids, 25 public schools, 28 private schools, 120 school teachers, 30 college professors and 50 university students (workshop coordinators and mentors). For taking care of such a population in every sense there is a director group formed by a general coordination office, a creative coordination office, a strategic coordination office, a pedagogic coordination office, a communications coordination office and a pedagogy advisor.
Organization |
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| Organization name | EAFIT University (Universidad EAFIT) |
| Organization type | Educational |
| City | Medellin |
| Country | Colombia |
Activities & Offers |
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| Since | Jan 2005 |
| Scheduling | Regular: Eight Meetings per year, one per month. 13 sessions of Expeditions per year. Four public events per year. (Comment: Please visit http://www.eafit.edu.co/eafitcn/ninos/preguntas.html for Meetings history) |
| Kinds of activities | DEMONSTRATION, LECTURE, VISIT, WORKSHOP, interaction), public events that include parents (music, theatre |
| Activities per year | 25 |
Participants & Target Groups (Part 1) |
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| Age of main target group | Depending on each single activity ranging from 7 to 17 years (Comment: Meetings: 7 to 13 years old; Expeditions: 12 to 15 years old. Young University: 16-17 years old) |
| Activities for other target groups | Yes: Our public events are open for all the people from the city, no age limits. |
Participants & Target Groups (Part 2) |
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| Effect on the participants | During these five years, we have significantly transformed each one of the participants: Children can ask without fear of being labeled or judged; they have aroused their curiosity and their sense of wonder about the unknown; they have woven relationships with children of different social and a cultural background, which has favored friendly relationships that make them see the world from another perspective. In addition, they have become a benchmark for other children at school; they have greater proximity to academia and research in a joyful and not in a mandatory way; they see the University as an opportunity and a feasible path to follow, and they have stopped having "tags" because at the Children’s University, there are no distinctions. University professors have implemented our methodology and workshop activities in their undergraduate and postgraduate classes, which has produced better results in terms of understanding and comprehending the subject. They have also succeeded in changing their technical and specialized language for a simpler one, without underestimating the importance of the subject or making the content look childish. And finally, they have found new research paths in the children’s questions. The school teachers have learned new ways to teach, based on a methodology that does not require a result, but on the contrary, it requires a moment of joy and wonder in children. Moreover, by transmitting the activities of the meetings at school, they have woven connections with children that have not had the opportunity to participate in the project; in other words, they have become our spokesmen. Finally, they have had academic discussions with teachers from other schools which has favored better partnerships and has allowed them to acquire more knowledge on the subject. The workshop coordinators have acquired such experience that they have been able to find jobs in other projects related to children; they have received additional education with specialized training that is included on their CV. Furthermore, they have positively changed their listening skills, their attitude towards questions and their way of approaching knowledge; they have worked on and learned about diverse issues not always related to their career, extending their intellectual background, and they have woven relationships with a diverse group, different from the one they usually know. |
| Reliable data concerning the children's social background available | yes: We have a database of all the children, with information from their families and from their schools. |
| Subjective estimation: Tendencies concerning social background | -unknown- |
| Specific efforts to include children of every social background / of every social and educational level | yes: We invite 30 schools each year. Each school inscribes five children. We invite both: public and private, from city and from countryside. |
| Documentation available | yes |
Lecturers |
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| Lecturers | Academic staff of one specific university, |
| Universities/Explanation | EAFIT University |
Lecturers Support |
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| Lecturers support | Didactical Guidelines, Advice: The information of each lecture and the way to communicate it is builded in a conversation between lecturer and the Children's University main team. |
| Lecturers support is mandatory | Yes |
| Effect of the Children's University on lecturers | University professors have implemented our methodology and workshop activities in their undergraduate and postgraduate classes, which has produced better results in terms of understanding and comprehending the subject. They have also succeeded in changing their technical and specialized language for a simpler one, without underestimating the importance of the subject or making the content look childish. And finally, they have found new research paths in the children’s questions. |
| Written material available | Yes |
Administration & Cooperation |
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| Organizationally located within a university/institution of higher education | Yes, within EAFIT University, Communications and Culture department. |
| Venue is a university/institution of higher education | Yes, for all activities: Universidad EAFIT, Carrera 49 # 7 sur 50 - Avenida las Vegas, Medellin, Colombia |
| Cooperation between institution and external partners concerning Children's University activities | Yes..., with: Antioquia University, JIC technical institute, Colombian Central Bank, EPM public services, Explora interactive museum, Medellin mayor's office, 45 public and private schools. |
| Cooperation between institution and other organizers of Children's University activities | Yes, occasionally, with: Vienna Children's University |
| In contact with an organization which is intending to start a Children's University | Yes: Cyril told us about the intend that CES (Health University in Medellin) has on making a project for children, but we've no contact yet. |
| Cooperation between the Children's University and schools/single teachers | Yes, with one/several schools: Our initial contact with children is through schools, so we have permanent contact with 30 schools. Also we invite one teacher per school to each Meeting, all the teachers gather in a group, making the same activities than children. |
Concept & Documentation |
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| A policy paper / code of practice / manual is available | Yes (Comment: We have complete document concerning all our activities, principles and our way of work.) |
| Evaluation results are available | Yes (Comment: We have statistics, published inside the EAFIT University. We have qualitative evaluation reports made from interviews, focus groups with some of our children, workshop coordinators and university professors.) |
| Publications about or from this Children's University | Yes: Rodando por la U: http://www.eafit.edu.co/ninos/rodando, "Catalejo" Magazine and articles at local newspapers. |
Planning/Organization & Implementation |
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| Thematic Priorities | No thematic priorities |
| Coming up with subjects/topics of activities | Advising/consultation: The Rector of EAFIT, Juan Luis Mejía Arango, By chance, Curriculum, |
| Imitation of „academic life” | |
| Number of people involved in the planning/organization | 8 (6 women) |
| Number of people involved in the implementation | 45 (30 women) |
| Comments on the number of involved people | Most of them are students from EAFIT, they receive training for this work. |
Participation |
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| Conditions for participation | yes: To participate in our Meetings, 150 children are inscribed by 30 schools (5 per school) and 50 are sons of EAFIT employees. To Expeditions and Young University are invited only children and teenagers that took part in the Meetings before. The public events participation is completely open. |
| How is the Children's University advertised? | For Meetings: By school and/or by posters in the University. We visit each of the 30 schools at the begining of each year, presenting the activities and inviting them to take part. For Expeditions and Young University: by e-mails, by post and in specific cases by phone calls. |
| Actively inviting certain groups | yes: This is the way we work, we invite 30 schools |
| Offering incentives to promote regular participation | yes: We give to each child a T-shirt, an ID card and a notebook. |
| Charges participation fee | No |
Gender Aspects |
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| Percentage of female participants | 53% |
| Percentage of female lecturers | 23% |
| Subjects/topics are chosen considering gender aspects | No |
| The Children's University is considering gender aspects concerning the target group | Yes: Inviting female, male and mixed schools. |
| Documentation concerning the consideration of gender aspects available | Yes |