Secondary School Students’ Partipation in Environmental Action: Coercion or Dynamism?

William Wanjala Toili

Western University College of Science and Technology, Kakamega, KENYA

This article reports emerging findings from qualitative research in 22 secondary schools in Bungoma District of Kenya. It focuses particularly on the nature and dynamics of students participation in environmental action within the framework of the established school curriculum. Drawing on in-depth pilot study during the first year of the research, the paper discusses the type of environmental activities in which students frequently participate in their local environments and the mode of such participation. Informed by the relevant literature, it is shown that dynamic qualities, which seem to facilitate environmental action, develop in those students exposed to active environmental education. It is hoped that this paper will lead to further dialogue in this critical area of practice and research.