A deep breath, a quick step outside, and a wide open window – all simple actions, yet dramatically significant to not only us, but to our environment. On the big gray rug, panting filled the room as I led an interactive lesson on CO₂ in just my first few weeks as a CONNECT intern with Dr. Christine Lee and Demonstration Teacher Alice Schatz’s Intermediate classroom. I jogged in place with the students to foster awareness of the impact of CO₂ on the body. Specifically, how too much CO₂ and not enough oxygen led to effects from dizziness to a lack of focus. Shortly after the exercise, I asked the students, “How do you feel?” and “What happens if you don’t let the CO₂ out of your body?” Over the last two quarters, I witnessed students develop a connection between their body, their actions, and their classroom, as all interdependent. This interdependence showcases how environmental education encouraged environmental action through practices of reciprocity.
Throughout my time at UCLA as an undergraduate student, the concept of reciprocity was introduced in discussions, lectures, and readings. But what does it really mean? What does it look like in practice? Reciprocity, as educational philosophers and thinkers like Paulo Freire argue, is co-learning between students and teachers through dialogue and other practices to emphasize learning as a mutual exchange. As much as the students learn from the teacher, the teacher learns from the students. In result, reciprocity often may begin through classroom activities focused on mutual learning, rather than students as funnels for knowledge. They discover and inquire interdependently
Simultaneously, my role as an intern places me in a position explicitly meant to learn from the kids while kids also learned from me. Just the other day in the classroom, three students and I sat together around a table researching our question: “How are the CO₂ levels different in different areas of the Lab School?” We had four articles in front of us—challenging for the students to read—yet their perspectives differed dramatically from mine as they pointed out things I had never noticed. One student excitedly clicked through an article and showed me an expanded digital chart on CO₂ parts per million (ppm), spanning years to hours. Meanwhile, another student not only browsed the article but read aloud complex sentences, struggling to pronounce some words but persisting nonetheless. Through her readings, she taught me about the impact of weather on CO₂. I worked carefully not to overstep, but rather to ask questions, observe, and co-learn. Thus, the classroom culture and presence of CONNECT interns also stimulate forms of reciprocity.
I not only saw reciprocity between facilitators and students, but—more relevant to environmental education—students exhibited an increasing understanding of the interdependence between their bodies, the classroom, and the greater world around them. On a nature walk, a student explained, “If we take care of the land, the land will take care of us.” In particular, students began to understand the exchange between themselves and their surroundings through conversations about how we give plants CO₂ and plants give us oxygen. As a result, through reciprocity, students find reason for action in the ways their bodies contribute to the world, fostering motivation for environmental responsibility and leadership.