In Greece, creativity grows hope
By Amber Johnson
As Greece endures sustained economic crisis, compounded by an unprecedented influx of refugees, changemakers are forging a new way forward. With partner Ashoka, Partners for Youth Empowerment (PYE) is part of a movement to transform education in the country. PYE is an international charity that works with 29 partners in 12 countries assisting communities with development of high-impact programs that equip adolescent youth for 21st century success.
In 2015 PYE ran a series of trainings for teachers in Greece. With PYE’s Creative Community Model (CCM) as framework, teachers learned methods for transforming classrooms into creative learning communities in which young people gain changemaking skills like creativity, empathy, teamwork, and leadership. Says PYE’s Managing Director Gwyn Wansbrough, who is spearheading PYE’s efforts across Europe, “It’s interesting to see how incredibly receptive the teachers are — they are eager to do things differently.”
A report by Ashoka, “New Solutions for Employment and Recovery,” points out that, “For a whole generation of young people in Southern Europe, the many challenges that have taken place in their short lifetimes have left them without a workable model for their economic future.”
Changemaking skills — nurtured by the CCM — are increasingly recognized as key nutrients required to fuel healthy economic growth in today’s world. PYE’s trainings are part of an effort to create fertile ground for citizen-led social innovation and entrepreneurship.
One participant, Xanthippi Anastasiadou, is a music teacher at a primary school in Thessaloniki, Greece, and a Master’s student at the University of Macedonia. Almost a year after attending her first PYE training, she reports: “I use all of the tools I learned with my students — group songs, rhythm exercises, everything! These tools bring out my creativity and the creativity in my students, and they love them. I have even run a ‘mini’ Creative Facilitation session with my colleagues.”
A years-long study by Google, called Project Aristotle, determined that psychological safety is crucial to high-performing teams. Central to the CCM, this concept is also key for successful, vibrant classrooms — especially where cultural differences or economic struggles can stress students and families. In PYE’s trainings, teachers learn how to build a sense of support, acceptance, and openness to creative risk-taking in their classrooms. With these conditions in place, a sense of relaxed collaboration emerges, and learning comes alive.
In November, with Ashoka Greece, PYE ran a Creative Facilitation training for 60 teachers from schools with high percentages of migrant youth from Balkan countries. A few weeks after attending, Athens teacher Nikoleta Foti reported, “I have already implemented many tools. My students wrote poems, performed, mimed, played ‘magic word’ and ‘yes…and’ and they loved it. I loved it too because I found that ‘weak’ and ‘indifferent’ students not only participated but stood up and even found the correct answers. Their voices were finally heard! I am trying to build a team spirit in a class with many problems. Of course, we have a long journey, but at least we have found a common base.”
PYE’s regional plan is to train Greek facilitators to lead creative facilitation trainings and youth programs, building capacity as quickly as possible so they can confidently deliver and adapt the Creative Community Model in a culturally appropriate way.
PYE’s trainings and partnerships in Greece are part of a strong and expanding network in southern Europe. Wansbrough says, “Together, we’re helping prepare young people to innovate and navigate new economic realities with confidence. Despite all Greece has faced, hope is in the air.”
By Amber Johnson, Communications Director, PYE Global. PYE was founded by Ashoka Fellow Charlie Murphy.
