The Florida Public Space Project:
Fall 2004 Teacher Workshop

This website and workshop are designed to help make our public spaces into places of pride. We shall examine and address the problems of public space in Miami-Dade County - and hope our efforts may grow and make a real difference across the state- by helping teachers generate, assess and integrate local materials into their curriculum in such diverse subjects as American history, environmental science, social science, language and communications arts, architecture and geography. Teachers will be assisted to encourage interdisciplinary analysis of written texts, as well as produce and edit oral history tapes and transcripts, photographs, newspaper articles, TV programs, web sites, maps and plans focused primarily on historical analysis as well as environmental and social needs assessments of specific public spaces. Students will be empowered to help lead design workshops that enhance civic engagement in remaking our public spaces into places of pride and utility. They will cooperate with local and county park departments and with public officials to make more of our public spaces into places of pride.

We intend to promote three areas of student work in the coming months, depending in part upon grant funding: (a) classroom modules and website materials that can be used within various disciplines (b) an after school program done in conjunction with the YMCA and the Community School program for targeted high school students and (c) a summer internship program.

This project is a joint project between UM’s Institute for Public History, the University of Miami School of Education, the Miami-Dade Public School system, the Miami-Dade County Parks Department, the City of Coral Gables, and many other non-profit organizations and government agencies. It aims to greatly expand and organize local materials for classroom and public use. In addition, by fostering intergenerational exchange, creating community based web sites and cable programming, the workshop plans to stimulate interest in and knowledge about local affairs. Themes explored during the Workshop will include such diverse topics as the changing nature of public space and urban design, ecology, framing devices for local news and political culture.

• To promote greater interdisciplinary focus on South Florida public spaces involving history, architecture, English, environmental science, math, communications, sociology and psychology
• To facilitate and oversee teacher led projects to assess and redesign selected public spaces
• To promote awareness of and greater student/public involvement in local governmental growth management processes through a broadened design workshop process
• To provide a set of readings/support website materials on local history and culture, government planning processes, environmental conditions, mapping and social-environmental assessment, teacher protocols, ethnic diversity and practical application through various other disciplines
• Create the tools for promoting and presenting public programs through forums, DVDs, and website design
• Facilitate greater reporting on local planning matters by students through journalism and language and visual arts.

• Empower students to develop a deeper sense of place and cooperation
• Foster a healthy work environment in which teams of professionals, teachers, seniors, and students all share ideas on public space
• Promote the value of collecting research materials and placing them in archives and websites in ways that can broaden understanding of our communities.
• Consider various alternative design possibilities for selected public spaces
• Encourage a series of design workshops in which participants will redesign a facet of the world around them and see those changes made into reality
• Host a series of community forums and events in which the fruits of student labor will be presented to public audiences in local places

All who take part in this Teacher Workshop will gain the following:

• Graduate Credit or TEC Credit
• Presentations by nationally recognized scholars and facilitators
• DVDs, videos and reading material for use in classroom instruction
• Access to streaming video of various lessons from the workshop
• Personal instruction on the best ways to gain public recognition for your work
• Support from community professionals on starting your own public space projects

Dr. Gregory Bush, director of UM’s Institute for Public History will be leading this workshop in collaboration with Dr. Walter Secada, Professor of Education.

STREAMING VIDEO	U-M ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
CHARRETTES	MIAMI-DADE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
RELEASE FORMS	SO. FLA PUBLIC SPACE PROJECT LINKS
CIVIC ACTIVISM	SOCIAL & RECREATIONAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT
ELECTRONIC MAPPING	BOOKS & ARTICLES
FORTHCOMING EVENTS

University of Miami, Coral Gables Campus

1. Preparing for the Workshop
• View Project Succeed website, study selected links and streaming videos that introduce the project elements.
• Consult with school colleagues, seek others to work on a school based Public Space team, and begin to consider possible local public space project sites. (Optimally that should include teachers from social studies, science, language arts, geography and civics - at least two per school.)
• Provide initial on line biographical feedback and pre- workshop assessment.


2. First Saturday Workshop: Oct. 2 (8:30-3:30)
   Changing Visions of Public Space in Our Time
• 8:30-9:00 Welcome and Introduction to the Florida Public Space Project
• 9:00-10:30: Panel: Looking Around Us: The Broadening Vision for Public Spaces
• 10:45-12:00 Panel: Social / Recreational Needs: What Do Miami Area Kids, Families and Seniors Want and Need in their Public Spaces?
• 12:30-1:30: Lunch: Sustainability and The Politics of Growth Management
• 1:30-3:30: Panel: Seeing Our Natural Environment


3. Independent Study, Oct. 3 - Nov. 5
• Tour two or more local parks or other underused public spaces, taking pictures of the park and surrounding neighborhoods. Try to include students. Assess which would be the most valuable to sustain attention and help neighborhood residents.
• Contact supervising agencies and discuss with local public officials about jurisdiction, plans for the spaces in question, neighborhood needs, and regulatory concerns.
• Begin independent team research of the site: initial site analysis, neighborhood assessment, jurisdiction, photographs, using Project Succeed website for help.
• Assess prospects and problems with development of selected public space in order to make a 10 minute oral or powerpoint presentation, hopefully using images to exhibit your view about the viability of the site and its need for attention.
• View and critique streaming video/DVD presentations on Project Succeed site.


4. Second Saturday Workshop: Nov. 6 (8:30-4:30)
   From News to History: Documenting South Florida’s Built Environment
• 8:30- 11:00 Workshop/Project Review: Constructing Narratives of the Planning Process for Public Spaces; Project Review (15 minutes for each team effort- 6 teams)
• 11:15-12:30: Documenting Miami-Dade’s Community History
• 1:00-3:00 Panel: Reporting on New Urbanism and Public Spaces:
• 3:00-4:30: Building Places of Pride: Visual Literacy, Video Editing and Website Construction

University of Miami
School of Education
Project SUCCEED
305-284-2213

Gregory Bush, Director, Institute for Public History
Walter Secada, Professor of Education

The Florida Public Space Project: Fall 2004 Teacher Workshop Application
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