Learning ecosystems are essential threads in our nation's fabric

By Gregg Behr, executive director of The Grable Foundation and co-chair of Remake Learning, and Ryan Rydzewski, science and education reporter. 

It started in Pittsburgh like it started everyplace else: A one-off school closing, just for a day or two. Then a district-wide closure — two weeks, we thought. Tops. Then an extension as the first cases were confirmed, and then another and another.

We couldn’t have known it then, but it would be more than a year before many of Pittsburgh’s children saw their schools again. Even today, many have yet to go back.

Meanwhile, people got sick. Families lost loved ones. Parents lost their jobs or risked their health to go to work, stocking grocery-store shelves and driving buses and staffing busy hospital wards. On countless minds, the most urgent questions became, What can I do to keep my child safe? What can I do to keep my child learning? Who can I turn to for help?

For many families, the answers came from the afterschool sector. In the Pittsburgh region, we were fortunate that our afterschool ecosystem pre-dated the pandemic, largely thanks to intermediaries like APOST and networks like Remake Learning that connect afterschool providers, schools, museums, libraries, and more. This connective tissue helped providers act quickly and — let us not mince words — heroically when COVID-19 came to Pittsburgh.

Within days of the initial shutdowns, providers teamed up to form the Pittsburgh Learning Collaborative, a coalition of more than 70 regional organizations that fed people in need, delivered devices to kids, and connected families to Community Learning Hubs. Largely staffed by afterschool providers who pivoted, almost overnight, to offer full-time care and instructional help, these Community Learning Hubs were — and still are — safe, creative, even joyful spaces where kids can do the work of childhood, which is discovering who they are and how they relate to their peers.

Pittsburgh isn’t alone. Throughout the country, “Community Learning Hubs have become a lifeline for students that are in all virtual and/or hybrid school models – giving them a safe place to be throughout the day and in some cases evenings,” the Afterschool Alliance has noted. “For many of these students, learning at home is difficult or impossible for a variety of reasons; and for all students, hubs present an essential opportunity to connect with other students and caring adults, and have access to virtual academics and in-person, socially distanced enrichment in an environment that follows strict COVID safety protocols.”

These hubs have proven so vital from coast to coast that the National League of Cities released guidance for mayors, council members, and other elected officials, helping them leverage their leadership and convening power to marshal extra support. Pulling together educators from the afterschool sector, childcare centers, churches, libraries, and more, the hubs are a case study in what connected “learning ecosystems” can do: bring the knowledge and resources of whole communities to bear on children’s learning.

It’s a model that’s gaining traction around the world. But learning ecosystems are not a new idea — in many ways, they’re a modern expression of a tried-and-true blueprint, one that’s more familiar than many might think.

From 1968 to 2001, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood introduced millions of families to the same concept. As we detail in our new book, When You Wonder, You’re Learning: Mister Rogers’ Enduring Lessons for Raising Creative, Curious, Caring Kids, Fred Rogers recruited every kind of educator to appear on his program. He sometimes called this his Neighborhood’s “smorgasbord”: On Monday, viewers might visit a factory to learn how people make towels. Tuesday might take them to a trolley museum or the National Zoo. Each episode brought new experiences and new neighbors directly to kids, providing what families are now finding in Community Learning Hubs: safe places for kids to pursue their passions, practice their academics, and meet caring adults who can help guide them along the way.

Today, we’re seeing real-life Neighborhoods taking root all over. And no wonder. As the Forum for Youth Investment brilliantly puts it, it’s in learning ecosystems that “the community and world are the playground for learning; and young people — no matter who they are or where they are from — are supported to thrive and contribute in a complex, fast-changing, and interconnected world.”

But the future is far from assured. It’s an unfortunate irony that just as Community Learning Hubs have demonstrated learning ecosystems’ value, the very providers who comprise these systems are now struggling themselves. Many are going (or have already gone) out of business, notes The Hechinger Report; since the start of the pandemic, the number of students with access to afterschool programs has fallen by half.

Now is the time to recognize — and support — these learning ecosystems as essential threads in our nation’s fabric. That’s why we’re calling on elected officials to do exactly that; and to study, seed, and scale learning ecosystems in communities across the country.

From the very beginning, afterschool providers and their partners stepped in to care for kids and families. It’s time that we, as a society, do the same for them.

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Gregg Behr is executive director of The Grable Foundation and co-chair of Remake Learning. Ryan Rydzewski is an award-winning science and education reporter. Their new book, When You Wonder, You're Learning: Mister Rogers' Enduring Lessons for Raising Creative, Curious, Caring Kids, is now available from Hachette. Learn more at whenyouwonder.org.