Transformative Commons and Education in Greece. Τhree Case Studies

This chapter offers a summary account of three case studies conducted in Greece by the research team of Aristotle University, in 2021–2023, in the context of the Horizon 2020 research project SMOOTH. The studies considered practices of commoning in diverse educational settings from the perspective of their transformative effects and their contribution to the democratic empowerment of young students in the classroom and beyond. In two cases, in the private institutions of the School of Nature (kindergarten) and the Big Bang School (elementary school) in Thessaloniki, activities of educational commons were experimentally pursued by the researcher and the staff as part of the research project. At the other site, the informal Solidarity School Mesopotamia in Moschato, Athens, the case study combined observation of existing practices with limited intervention through focus groups and interviews. Despite their critical divergences, the studies corroborate our main research thesis: the enactment of educational commons, however limited and constrained, addresses inequalities and can instil radical democratic habits in young students. Beyond this broad finding, the three studies pivot around different aspects and dynamics of educational commoning, which this chapter sets out to highlight and critically discuss. The commons-based organization and the alter-political nature of the Solidarity School generate considerable transformative effects which are reflected markedly in the ambiance of teaching and learning. A culture of equal freedom, solidarity and civic engagement refashions the hegemonic habitus of consumerist individualism, passivity and submission to socio-political hierarchies. The two other studies at the School of Nature and the Big Bang School, in which the methodology of sociocracy proved to be a good practice fostering educational commons, further developed core insights of relevant research: the role of teachers as ‘companions’ promoted children’s autonomy, while collective decision-making with consent educated young people in peer governance, cultivating collective consciousness and building a sense of equal power.