The University of South Florida (USF) College of Education was awarded a $1 million grant by the Florida Department of Education to develop a new series of oral history resources that will be used by educators, school districts and the public as part of Florida’s revised civics education curriculum.
The project was launched in response to Florida’s Civic Education Curriculum (HB 5, 2021), legislation passed last year to aid in students’ development of civic responsibility and knowledge and to help students understand their roles, rights and responsibilities as residents of the state.
The oral history resources will include videos that provide “Portraits in Patriotism,” a series of personal stories featuring diverse individuals who demonstrate civic-minded qualities, including first-person accounts from victims of other nations’ governing philosophies that differ from those of the United States.
The project will include printable resources, augmented reality activities and professional development workshops for K-12 teachers on how to use these resources in their classrooms. All materials will align with Florida’s civics education standards for K-12 schools.
The USF College of Education research team includes College of Education faculty members Barbara Shircliffe, Kathy Bradley-Klug, Deanna Michael and David Rosengrant. The team expects to have resources publicly available beginning this summer.