chapter

7Public Recreation

Overview of Chapter

• The chapter covers 3 different types of public recreation: – Public parks and recreation – School-based recreation and community schools– Special recreation

• The common thread is that all 3 types grew from the philosophy that public recreation is essential for the well-being of young people and communities.

Historical Overview of Canadian Public Recreation

• Independent initiatives were aimed at solving problems (real or perceived) or creating opportunities for local residents.

• The roots of today’s integrated recreation, park, and leisure services system can be found in the following:– Parks provided civic beauty and healthy

environments.– Playgrounds provided play areas for children.– Physical-activity programs helped make young

people fit for work or for war.

Playgrounds Came First, Then Recreation

• The philanthropic, volunteer-based Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) were established in Canadian cities in 1851.

• The National Council of Women of Canada started supporting playgrounds in 1901.

Development of Recreation and Leisure in Canada

• Began with volunteers in local councils of women and playground associations and progressed to become a responsibility of municipal government.

• The responsibility of a playgrounds commission or a recreation commission created a more secure, ongoing commitment from the municipal government when a civic department of recreation was created.

Federal and Provincial Governments

• Government involvement can be attributed to the following:– Charlotte Whitten, Canadian Council on Child Welfare– Ian Eisenhardt, B.C. Provincial Recreation movement– A.S. Lamb, Canadian Physical Education Association

• Governments searched for antidotes to unemployment during the Depression. – Created Pro-Reek to deal with “unemployed youth . . . exposed

to the demoralizing influences of enforced idleness" (Schrodt, 1979).

– Created National Employment Commission to address employment and leisure needs.

(continued)

Federal and Provincial Governments (continued)

• Government also enacted or managed the following:– Youth Training Act of 1939 – National Physical Fitness Program (1943–1954) – Fitness and Amateur Sport Act (1961–2003)– Physical Activity and Sport Act (2003)

Historical Overview of U.S. Public Recreation

• Beulah Kennard opened Pittsburgh’s first playground in the Forbes School Yard in 1896.

• Jane Addams, Luther H. Gulick, Joseph Lee, and others founded the Playground Association of America in 1906.

• The Playground and Recreation Association of America (PRAA) and War Camp Community Service provided recreation for new recruits in towns near training camps during World War I.

• The Community Services Act of 1975 provided summer recreation for low-income families.

Public Recreation Delivery Systems

• Public recreation depends on government involvement and responsibilities.

• Both the Canadian and American delivery

systems can be discussed by looking at different levels of government.

• The delivery systems are different based on the philosophies of each government.

Canadian Delivery Systems: Federal and Provincial or Territorial

• Physical Activity and Sport Act of 2003 assigned federal responsibility for recreation to the jurisdiction of two departments: – Physical activity is allocated to the Minister of Health. – Sport responsibility is allocated to the Minister of Canadian

Heritage

• The federal government views recreation as physical activity to enhance health and international sport to solidify Canada’s identity.

• The provinces and territories view recreation in various ways (McFarland, 1970).

5 Roles Governments Take in Delivering Public Services

1. Direct provider2. Enabler and coordinator3. Supporter and patron4. Arm’s length provider5. Legislator and regulator

(Burton & Glover, 1999)

The amount of direct involvement by government agencies decreases as you move down the list.

American Delivery Systems and Municipal Recreation

Leisure Services

At the local level—municipal, county and special district—recreation and leisure receive their power from the state.

State Recreation Leisure Services

• Types of state recreation and leisure services include the following:– State parks– Forests– Fish and wildlife agencies– State hospitals– Correctional institutions

• The authority for these agencies—U.S. Constitution, Article X—grants all powers to the states that are not reserved for the federal government.

Federal Recreation and Leisure Services

• Authorizes the offering of recreation services for the health and welfare of certain groups of people for which it has responsibility. – Inmates of federal prisons– Military personnel and family– Patients served at VA hospitals– USDA Forest Service– National Park Service– Bureau of Land Management– U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services– Bureau of Indian Affairs– U.S. Army Corps of Engineers– National Endowment for the Arts

Partnerships: Connections to the Community

• Provide mutually beneficial arrangements. • Who ultimately benefits? Recipients of the

services.• Partnerships are essential in the following:

– Generating ideas

– Discussing approaches

– Planning strategies

– Delivering services

• Partnerships can range from informal discussions to formal legal agreements (Markham, 1991b)

Public Recreation Professionals

Professionals in public recreation use a variety of skills, including the following:• Program planning and development • Fiscal services and budgeting • Communication• Information technology• Marketing

Public Recreation Management • Managers fall into 3 categories:

1. Top or executive managers2. Middle managers3. Front-line or supervisory managers

• Managers perform 3 basic skills:1. Technical: specialized knowledge in operations,

expertise, techniques, and procedures2. Human: understanding, motivating, and working with

employees3. Conceptual: organizational development of philosophy,

goals, mission, and objectives• Most important, managers perform strategic planning,

which encompasses community involvement and coordination with city departments and other agencies.

Canadian and United StatesProfessional Organizations

• Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA) provides services through 13 provincial or territorial organizations. Each is autonomous and offers services in keeping with its local requirements.

• In the United States, the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) serves as the major advocate for the advancement of an ever changing profession.

Chameleon Profession: Ever Changing Societal Issues

and Needs

Geoffrey Godbey (1997) summarized the following current themes:• Most workers today do not work a standard work day. • 40% of North Americans reported always feeling rushed.• North Americans average approximately 40 hours of free time

per week. • Two-thirds of public has lived the last 15 to 20 years of their life

without participating in the labor force. • People 50 years old and older have gained the most free time

since 1965. • Television is still a dominant force; however, more people are

seeking outdoor recreational activities.

Predictors of Change in Canada and the United States

• Median age in Canada at an all time high: 37.6 years.

• Fastest population gain in Canada is among oldest age: 80 and over grew by 41.2% between 1996 and 2001.

• One-quarter of Canada’s working population is in the 45 to 64 age group.

• Immigration is increasing in U.S. urban areas.• U.S. citizens are pursuing higher levels of formal

education and pursuing diverse roles for women.• Although people are obsessed with health, U.S.

citizens are more obese than ever. • Outsourcing in United States may be the norm.

Changing Profession

• Possible decline in most forms of sport participation; greater interest in the environment

• Quality of the experience and sense of place are important

• Flexible departments of recreation• Innovative work efforts• More diversity of leisure expression because our

population is more diverse• Customization of leisure programs necessary to

retain community consumers; treating people appropriately, not equally

School-Based Recreation and Community Schools

Reflect on the quote:

“There is no conflict between teaching the fundamental processes or attaining the highest intellectual achievement and teaching the arts of leisure. The latter may contribute to intellectual achievement. Some of our best learning takes place in relaxed leisure hours when we turn to books, nature lore, scientific experiment or discussions because we choose to do so. Inspiration to use in leisure the basic skills and knowledge that must be learned anyway is often the teachers’ greatest contribution” (Carlson, Deppe, & MacLean,1963).

Condensed History of Community Education

• In 1935, Frank Manley, a city recreation leader from Flint, Michigan, developed the lighted schoolhouse model.

• He proposed using schools during nonschooling hours to engage young people in constructive activities, thus reducing the incidence of delinquency that was growing in his town.

• There was greater potential for this idea than simply the constructive use of free and leisure time.

Responding to Needs

Philosophy of community education and the community school brought a collaborative approach to problem solving and community-driven program identification. • Asked community for their thoughts, ideas, and

suggestions.• Enlisted the help of the community members in

creating activities that met the needs expressed. • Created a new approach to governance, replacing the

more autocratic system of top-down leadership common at the time.

Community Schools:Leadership to Cooperation

to Collaboration

1. Programs and activities are flexible and inclusive.

2. Promoted community residents as instructors.

3. Fostered cooperation and broadened connections.

4. Expanded recreation and leisure service opportunities by collaboration.

5. Program development meant people became involved rather than just attending and participating in an event.

6. Community members of all ages, cultures, faiths, and genders were involved.

Current Conditions of Community Education

Development• 1998, the 21st Century Community Learning

Center (21st CCLC) • Immigration Goals 2000• Education 2000• No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act

These all highlight activities that enhance academic achievement, literacy, and the unique needs of urban and rural communities.

6 Components of Community Education

1. Community involvement

2. Facility use

3. Adult programming

4. Youth programming

5. Classroom enrichment through community resources

6. Coordination and cooperation and delivery of community services

History of Special Recreation• “Deinstitutionalization” began when President

Kennedy signed the Mental Health Act of 1962.• 12 communities outside Chicago formed the first

SRA, Northern Suburban Special Recreation Association (NSSRA), in 1969.

• Summer day camps for children with cognitive or mental disabilities were the first programs offered for people with disabilities.

• The United States Education for All Children Act of 1975 declared that all states must require local school districts to provide special education services for children with disabilities.

Community Benefits of Special Recreation Associations

Communities increase efficiency and economies by sharing facilities and staff and pooling resources to create a central group that serves all the communities. • All participating communities share facilities. • Low incidence of disability in the general population

does not preclude participation.• By pooling employees, a special recreation

association can have staff with diverse training specialties, e.g., sign language, lifting, moving, and support.

Special Recreation Continuum of Services

Services from the least restrictive to most restrictive settings are as follows: 1. Independent inclusion: Patronymics, senior

programs2. Supported inclusion: Special Olympics, unified

sports, parks and recreation inclusion programs, school inclusion

3. Parallel inclusion: separate schools, Special Olympics, SRAs, leisure education

4. Segregated programs: residential settings, hospitals, workshops, prisons

Inclusion Services

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (also known as the “Civil Rights Act for the Disabled”) required governmental agencies to make their services available to people with special needs by doing the following:• Removing architectural barriers• Providing aids to help include the person in

recreation• Providing communication devices • Providing accessible public transportation• Prohibiting employment discrimination

Specialized Recreation Programs

• Special Olympics• Patronymics• Special recreation camping and adventure

programming, such as National Sports Center for the Disabled, Wilderness Inquiry, and Outward Bound

• VSA Arts• National Theater for the Deaf

Future of Special Recreation Associations

The special recreation association movement will continue to grow as the number of people who need assistance increases because of the following:• Medical developments continuing to expand the life

expectancies of the seriously ill• Aging of the baby boomer generation

The following remain unserved or under-served:• Homeless• People with cancer, diabetes, arthritis, multiple sclerosis• People undergoing dialysis

Discussion

Discuss the following

The challenge and the role of public recreation is to serve all of us, but does this really happen? Who is “us”?

• Who (if anyone) gets left out???

– Is it realistic to believe that the public recreation system can serve everyone? Is recreation really a “public good”?

DiscussionSubject: Gray Park

You have just been hired to be the director of Gray park and recreation agency. Your job is to review and update the five-year plan for the department. You will ultimately have to answer the questions in this activity in specific detail. However, today you are pondering just your basic first assumptions of the answers.

• In groups of 3 discuss the following questions:– Who is the “public” in “public recreation”? – To whom do we listen? – From whom do we solicit input? – What role can interest groups play?