Boulder Civic Area Project Process
Boulder Journey School
Three assumptions guide the project:
1...Young children have a great deal to teach us about possibilities for planning public spaces, specifically the Boulder Civic Area.
2...In order to gather the children’s opinions in a meaningful way, we have to offer them the time, space, and resources necessary to gain a strong understanding of the project.
3...In order to know the context of the children’s opinions, we have to involve their families, since they primarily visit the Boulder Civic Area together.
2...In order to gather the children’s opinions in a meaningful way, we have to offer them the time, space, and resources necessary to gain a strong understanding of the project.
3...In order to know the context of the children’s opinions, we have to involve their families, since they primarily visit the Boulder Civic Area together.
Teachers began slowly, offering the children chances to interact with the Civic Area space in different ways. They offered no objective or end goal, but simply observed.
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During the weeks following the picnic, the children examined photos of the Boulder Civic Area. The photos were very basic scenery shots. The children and their families visited the Boulder Civic Area in October for a picnic. |
The children recalled very specific stories and details about many of the photos. It impressed teachers when the children's knowledge of the space surpassed their own. The children's knowledge had clearly developed over time and over multiple visits to the space with their families. Here are a few examples:
Teachers then printed slightly faded versions of the photos that seemed to generate the most discussion. They offered them to the children with markers, and invited the children to draw their ideas about ways they could change the space directly onto the photos.
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Themes found in the children's drawings:
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