Good practice:

The educational process of theatre (dramatization) customized on transport and the environment

The program, entitled “Mobility in the city of Thessaloniki”, adopts the educational process of theatre aiming to educate high school pupils on sustainable mobility and environmental protection issues. It was delivered as an innovative method of teaching and learning through experience. Consisting of two different plays on public transport, the aim of the dramatization was to study sustainability in its economic, social and environmental dimensions, to refer to the local context, to enhance participatory learning using many pedagogical techniques, and to be interdisciplinary being supported by teachers of different specialization fields. The existence of different transport stakeholders and the need to combine their perspectives became clear to students.
The script was developed and written by the pupils themselves, covering with humor many aspects of the original theme of mobility in the city, with the intention to pass the messages to the local audience of the plays. The writing workshop was an important stage of the process. Then, the transfer of the text on stage began with the valuable support of a theatre specialist, from all preparatory details until the final performance.
There was a dynamic productive interaction among adolescents, teachers, theatrical expert, and the public, with constant feedback provision and reflection in this form of visual art towards choosing more sustainable modes. The training power of theatre influences both the “actors” and the audience.

Synergies among the responsible teachers, a theatre specialist, local Authorities of Secondary Education, pupils, parents, and local audience, were required to set up and run the program. Low-cost props of everyday objects and homemade costumes were used with imagination without many resources.

Questionnaire survey results: Students progressively changed their attitudes and perceptions through the empathy they experience in their role and through the "healing power" of dramatization. They cultivated soft skills that are necessary for the adult citizens of tomorrow, such as cooperation, respect, moderation of selfishness, solidarity, teamwork. They also learned that their activation as citizens creates a means of pressure on those taking decisions for the quality of life in their city.

A challenge is to avoid a simple “role-playing” and ensure an educational “theatrical play” for which an expert is required to reap the benefits of dramatization. Excessive enthusiasm often led to pupils’ indiscipline which,however, was resolved through active participation and not outside pressure.

This practice presents how the change of transport habits is not a matter of theory and stereotypes, but a matter of social skills like learning to respect others on the streets, being active and engaged citizens, “putting ourselves in other’s shoes”.
Using the experiential and alternative method of theatre (dramatization) in the context of transport- and environment-related education can change the character of the society itself, in any place and at any time. It gradually strengthens the awareness of issues on mobility and the environment, influences the way of thinking, hones soft skills (respectful interaction, creation, communication, etc.), but, mainly, leads to the understanding of individual mobility attitudes towards their possible change, as happened with certain participants in Greece,see above.
It is an innovative practice that can easily be adapted to all age groups, for example, it can successfully activate and support the elderly regarding mobility issues in the city.