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Reading The City Tuscany 2012
Tinta Education
David Powell Course Leader
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The Origins of Reading the City
SMILE a Comenius 3.2 teachereducation project 1999 2002
The Learning Eye Trials in VisualLiteracy 2002-2004 Grundvig
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The major principles behind the creation of
Reading the City
In 50 years time 80% of the population ofthe world will live in or near a city (UnitedNations)
The future of Europe is an urban future
The major urban areas of Europe aregrowing
Many of our smaller towns are shrinking
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Some other factors
Migration within Europe
Migration from outside Europe
A multicultural society
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Some major themes
Many countries have used urbanenvironmental eduction as a support to
the major subjects of the curiculum
On this course we want to study the city
in its own right
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We have chosen as our major topics
Communication and the city
Structures in the city cultural, political,
social, artistic etcOrientation in the city
Perception and the city
Identity issues and the city
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Reading Cities as Texts
Complex and multi-layered information
objects, images, sounds, words, movement
Who wrote the city?
Who did they write it for?
Why did theywrite
it?
Who reads it now?
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Using Cities as Museums
The City as a museum
The City an open air museum of buildings
Lectures dicussing different aspects ofurbanism
Practical projectsExamples relating directly to children, youngpeople or adults
Creating your own knowledge
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Didactic concepts/ Ways of learning
Formal or informal
Oral/visual
Logical
Intrapersonal
Spatial
Kinetic
Interpersonal
etc
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Our values
to enable people to explore their environment through their owneyes and their own experiences.
we are not trying to teach about a particular citiy directly, but to
develope flexible methods that can be used in a variety ofEuropean cities.
to avoid stereotypes
the project is also committed to inclusion: involving a wide
range of schools, rural and urban, especially those with a highpercentage of ethnic minority children so that the European cityis seen as a pluralist, multicultural city and not one restricted tothe traditional cultures of the member states.
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What are the goals of built environment education?
to develop an understanding of the way in which the spacespeople occupy are designed and how this may influence thelives that they lead
to increase awareness of environmental quality and the developa sense of responsibility for the environment
to share identities with others through the presentation ofwhere and how people live
In a European context - to show what is significant to those thatlive in a place and not what a foreignershouldsee.
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Conclusion
By undertaking the reading the Citycourse and activities we hope to enable
you to help your own pupils/students inan exploration of their own city/town.
An exploration carried out through their
own eyes and experiences and leadingperhaps to an increased active role asactive European citizens.
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Participants countriesAlbaniaAustriaBelgiumBulgariaCroatiaCyprus
Czech RepublicEnglandEstoniaFranceGermanyGreeceHungary
IrelandIslandItalyLatvia
LiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMontserrat W.I.PolandPortugal
RomaniaScotlandSloveniaSlovakiaSpainSouth AfricaSweden
Turkey
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Using the environment as a teaching aid
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2006 The SMILE book concentrating on museums , the
built environment and identity was published.
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Think global, act global with a regional touch