This study aims to develop an educational framework for engaging K-12 students in transportation planning on Oʻahu from their classrooms. The results will improve the Oʻahu Metropolitan Planning Organization’s ability to reach and engage this demographic in regular, meaningful dialog regarding transportation needs and desires, while also informing the development of the 2050 Oʻahu Regional Transportation Plan (ORTP) update.

Since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), inclusion of young people in planning processes has gained in popularity. However, planners report a lack of professional knowledge about youth and fail to address their needs systematically. In a reimagining of Arnstein’s ladder of citizen participation in the context of children, Roger Hart describes five models of genuine participation: (i) assigned but informed; (ii) consulted and informed; (iii) adult-initiated, shared decisions with children; (iv) child-initiated and child-directed; and (v) child-initiated, shared decisions with adults. These models speak to the developing capacity of children and youth to participate and, even at a base level, require the participants to understand the project and have their opinions taken seriously. Even with such frameworks, methods used to engage this demographic in public planning processes often remain tokenistic—giving a sense of voice without allowing participants to make decisions regarding what is communicated and how—rather than providing avenues for genuine participation.

Deliberative methods are known to increase participation and address inequalities by facilitating group discussions that lead to forming collaborative solutions to defined problems. They provide opportunities for participants to experience public inquiry and discussion-based decision making—both of which are fundamental in democratic societies. Whereas planners draw upon deliberative planning methods to engage community members through dialogue and social learning, educators leverage their command of pedagogy to prepare students for life in a democratic society. Deliberative pedagogies engage students and teachers in the practice of considering perspectives, evaluating views, and treating each other as political equals as they think collectively about the larger question: how should we live together?

Democratic engagement and civic competence must be fostered from an early age so the associated skills can develop over time through practice and involvement before young people are expected to be participating adults. The global Philosophy for Children (P4C) program is a deliberative pedagogy which carries out this assertion by converting traditional classrooms into reflective communities of inquiry where students and teachers continue to develop their ability to think for themselves in responsible ways. Hawaiʻi has developed its own offshoot of the program—philosophy for children Hawaiʻi (p4cHI)—which has gained international attention and is considered a culturally sensitive approach when working in a multicultural community context. Strategies of p4cHI have been found to be helpful in facilitating dialogue, deliberation, inquiry, and action in these communities and are a suitable vehicle to bring transportation related discussions into K-12 classrooms.