Sowing the Seeds of Commons in Education: Three Case Studies from the Horizon Project 2020 SMOOTH

Yannis Pechtelidis (), Ioannis Kozaris, Stelios Pantazidis and Angeliki Botonaki
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Yannis Pechtelidis: Lab of Sociology of Education, Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Thessaly, 38221 Volos, Greece
Ioannis Kozaris: Lab of Sociology of Education, Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Thessaly, 38221 Volos, Greece
Stelios Pantazidis: Lab of Sociology of Education, Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Thessaly, 38221 Volos, Greece
Angeliki Botonaki: Lab of Sociology of Education, Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Thessaly, 38221 Volos, Greece

Social Sciences, 2023, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-16

Abstract: This paper explores how educational commons, in which education and learning are shaped by the members of the educational community in terms of equality, freedom, and creative participation, contribute to addressing inequalities, empowering democracy, and enhancing inclusion. The discussion focuses on the crucial debate around public formal education and the potential for radical democratisation it offers through three case studies carried out in formal and non-formal educational settings in Thessaloniki, Greece. The research was conducted in three different types of education centres: a public kindergarten, a self-organised autonomous libertarian educational community, and an after-school programme of a primary school where Workshops for Nurturing and Developing Environmental Resilience (WONDER) were implemented by the environmental organisation Mamagea. Through patterns of commoning practices, like peer governance, co-creation of knowledge, and peer learning, the case studies aimed to establish the prerequisites for the co-creation of a community that offers pupils and students, teachers, and educators the chance for self-formation and equal participation. The article makes the case that educational hierarchies and governance models can be reconfigured in order to incorporate the democratic values of solidarity, equality, self-organisation, and self-formation even in structures that are still tailored to formal schooling. The article argues that educational commons can make a decisive contribution to tackling inequalities, and the commons logic can grow effectively in school education under specific conditions. The pedagogical practice is shifted in educational commons in ways that balance out contemporary enclosures based on several inequalities.

Keywords: education; commons; inequalities; childhood; educational commons; school education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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