Teaching Tallahassee: An Interdisciplinary Civics and Art Curriculum Project

art education, curriculum development, place-based education, qualitative research, teacher interviews

Research Mentor: Dr. Rachel Fendler, she/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Art Education, Fine Arts
Contact Email: rfendler@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: rfendler@fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators: Dr. Sara Scott Shields, Dr. John Myers
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 3
Relevant Majors: Art Education, Social Studies Education, Education - general, History
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Yes
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 7 hours, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Thursday, Sept 7, 12pm-12:30pm, 12:30pm-1pm. https://fsu.zoom.us/my/rachelfendler
Friday, Sept 8, 2-2:30pm, 2:30pm-3pm. https://fsu.zoom.us/my/rachelfendler
SHORT VIDEO PRESENTATION (meeting recording): https://fsu.zoom.us/rec/share/EEN6i1Ag9TDqeQZnmBsUG6rokRkshV7reUJxK87i4HajKnH0Y66Wu_lhd7z2B5D4.-G1Ep4qw3MAcUovW?startTime=1694103052000

Project Description

This UROP research position will contribute to the grant-funded project: Teaching Tallahassee, which kicks off in July 2023. In this project, the research team will work with 12 art, history, and civics teachers from across Leon County, to research and explore the rich history of the area. During the project, the research team will work with the teachers on designing and drafting individual curriculum projects that use the history of Tallahassee to encourage K-12 students to think and make about their community history. This project draws on place-based education and positions learning inside of local communities, cultures, experiences, and people. This model uses local places as a point of entry for students to learn about a range of subjects, for this project we posit that civic education happens through history, civics, and art. A main objective of this project is to: Foster the collaborations of art, history, and civics educators and faculty, to develop an effective and evidence-based curriculum focused on civic engagement and participation in Leon County K-12 school students. Research findings from previous studies (Shields et al., 2020; Fendler et al., 2020; Fendler & Shields, 2018) have been used to inform this action research project. This project is focused on collaborating with K-12 teachers to develop new, interdisciplinary curriculum, in order to provide practical, user-friendly, and up to date resources for K-12 art and civics teachers to teach towards civic engagement and participation.

Research Tasks: UROP research assistants will: attend project meetings with the research team; assist with data collection (observing our curriculum development workshop with teachers, taking field notes, assisting with transcriptions); assist with conducting interviews with teachers; develop curriculum resources by investigating historic and contemporary people/places/events relevant to Tallahassee; develop artist resources by investigating contemporary artists whose projects are related to the curriculum projects teachers are developing. Other tasks may emerge.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required:
- Interest in the field of education
- Background knowledge in EITHER art making, art history, OR history
- Ability to meet 4 hours per week in person in the William Johnson Building
Recommended:
- Working toward the BA/MS degree in Art Education or Social Studies Education
- Interest in curriculum development
- Interest in action civics, civic engagement, or community organizing