A teacher in Athens, Greece created an environmental education program aimed at encouraging children to become more involved in their communities. As a result of the program, students' attitudes did a 360 from “Are you kidding me? Nobody will care,” and, “We are children, no one will listen to us.” A student's statement reflects the shift seen in the group, “Children's participation in urban planning is important because we and not the adults are going to live in this world in some years. We have to express our opinions…Besides, we are living in this world and we are going to make it according to our needs.”
Using a range of participatory approaches including storytelling, photography, and drama, the teacher encouraged students to be critically engaged in every aspect of their learning—from defining a problem in their community to collecting and analyzing the data and taking action.
In addition to noting his students' increased self confidence and feelings of empowerment, the teacher reported that his students were cooperating and respecting each other's opinions much more. The teacher explained, “The children had the chance to learn how to think critically, to be involved, to appreciate the importance of cooperative work, to participate and to take responsibility.”
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