Environmental education action research with immigrant children in schools: Space, audience and influence

This article considers environmental projects as means for engaging elementary school-aged immigrant children in their community. Based on an environmental research project with children aged 9-12 involved in their school's Green Committee (GC), we identify multiple components for enabling meaningful children's participation. Space was essential in creating a context for children to discover and express their voice. The combination of capacity-building and research activities as well as rapport-building between children, adults and the environment fostered care and ownership. Reaching out to a variety of audiences including peers and parents helped orient and strengthen the GC's actions. The children were listened to but also actively sought and responded to audiences. Influence involved receiving external funding, completing landscaping of the school's front courtyard as well as engagement with adults considering (or not) members' views. The project showed that if supported by committed and facilitating adult educators these children remained motivated and that their process had the power to lead others into action and change. Children valued the socio-physical and aesthetic aspects of the environment, and furthermore, their engagement provided them with a sense of belonging. The GC experience itself illustrates how an action research project that involves a small group of children can serve as a model to create meaningful participation of children and broader partnerships in schools on collective interests.