The Participatory Citizen

My grandmother spends her summers planting flower pots to be put around town. She decided to do this because she felt like the the town needed more gardenscape around town. My grandmother spent countless hours planting these flowers therefore she is a participatory citizen because she plays an active role in the community. She is also considered a participatory citizen because she helps a lot at our local museum. When you ask her why she volunteers she often says “If I want to see change somewhere the best thing to do is take things into your own hands”

I also participated in an afterschool program that dealt with at risk students in grade one to five. This program was called CHUMS and took place every week. It paired high school students with the younger students and allowed them to work with the older students in comnplex activities. This is another example of participatory citizen becuase by being an active member in this program I was being an active member of the community and therefore would be considered a participatory citizen.

As a future teacher I believe that it is important to promote participatory citizens in our classroom and demonstrate what it means to be a participatory citizen. I think it is very easy for a teacher to stand up and preach about being an active member of society but it takes a lot more work (and a better educator) to be able to demonstrate what that looks like.