Doing School Participation. Creative Ideas for Improving Educational Methods

Alexandra Galbin
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania

Abstract

School participation involves children, teachers, parents and community members. Outside the family, school remains the main institution that shapes and defines children’s childhood. Unfortunately, not all the children have the change to grow in a healthy school environment. Based on social constructionism paradigm, the purpose of this paper is to explore how children’s perspectives can be useful in understanding why many of the children aren’t happy at school, confident about their lives, and secure. Focus groups with children from rural area were organized, being preceded by two participatory research techniques, drawings and cardboard with pictures, in order to encourage children to express themselves. The research paper highlights children’s ideas regarding their involvement in school activities, decisions, and recommendations for improving school climate. The ideas generated by children can be a tool for teachers’ self-reflection, in order to develop educational methods that positively influence school participation. Keywords: school participation, creativity, education, social constructionism


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