This work highlights the importance of heritage education as a vehicle for citizen education. We present an analysis of concepts of heritage, citizenship, and territory held by third-year social science students. The results are obtained from statistical analysis of a questionnaire given before and after a didactic intervention and the application of a table of categories drawn up based on heritage education in terms of the parameters we consider desirable, from a holistic, socio-critical, motivating, and participatory perspective. The outcomes show the success of the intervention, with the students presenting better reflective and critical knowledge of their environment, showing appreciation, respect, protection, and dissemination of heritage as a symbol of identity and favoring the commitment to sustainable actions.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/3046/pdf

Student Concepts after a Didactic Experiment in Heritage Education

This study examines the conception of heritage—holistic or traditional—among future early-childhood and primary teachers. In order to do this, our objective was to analyze trainee teachers’ perceptions surrounding the conception of heritage. To carry out the analysis, we designed and validated a questionnaire with closed-ended questions (Likert scale 1–5) and one open-ended question about the elements that respondents considered to be part of what we define as heritage. The participants (n = 602) study at the universities of Alicante, Murcia, and Cordoba, and the investigation took place during 2018/19 and 2019/20 academic years. The results show a traditional conception that is still attached to immovable monumental heritage, with lower scores for intangible and natural heritage. However, there were some high scores for traditions and popular festivals, which are a frequent educational resource in early-childhood and primary classrooms. In conclusion, this non-holistic conception of heritage could be changed if an active and varied use of heritage resources were introduced from the early stages of education.

/pdf/holistic-or-traditional-conceptions-of-heritage-among-early-16i1ulfeky.pdf

Holistic or Traditional Conceptions of Heritage among Early-Childhood and Primary Trainee Teachers

This article presents the outcomes and conclusions of a research work designed to determine and describe good inclusive practices for the development of heritage education in schools through museums in the city of Bologna. To this end, we applied a qualitative methodology through the study of four cases, four museums in the city of Bologna, selected for their good practices in educational programmes for schools. Instruments such as interviews, observation, and documentary analysis were used. The results emphasise a close school-museum relationship, with heritage as an agent that enhances people’s identity, a fundamental element in the citizenship development of Bolognese society, and a key aspect for the development of inclusive principles and the care of all people, although improvements in the processes and some limitations in the development of the programmes are perceived. The outcomes highlight the importance of school and museum relations and the development of an inclusive heritage education that advocates a holistic, integrative, and complex approach to heritage, as an essential element in the development of the individual and of society.

/pdf/good-educational-practices-for-the-development-of-inclusive-2mpdn287go.pdf

Good Educational Practices for the Development of Inclusive Heritage Education at School through the Museum: A Multi-Case Study in Bologna

Teachers are fundamental pieces in quality heritage education. It is necessary to know the conceptions 
that these professionals have about the use and valuation of cultural heritage since these factors tend 
to condition their actions. With this research problem in mind, an exploratory study is presented wich 
identifies Galician teacher´s conceptions about heritage and the way in which one works in the 
classroom. 76 teachers participated in the study of the stages of infant, primary and secondary, 
belonging to 20 educational schools of the province of A Coruna (Galicia). For the collection of 
information, a questionnaire was designed with nine open questions. The data were analysed through 
eight categories that were subdivided into variables, created from the answers obtained and taking into 
account similar studies. The most relevant results show a) lack of correspondence between research and 
teaching, b) certain randomness in the design and implementation of heritage education activities. In 
conclusion, the study points to several directions in which it seems desirable to move forward for the 
improvement in the heritage education field: institutionalization, continuous training, research and 
innovation and learning communities around heritage education.

/pdf/concepciones-del-profesorado-sobre-el-uso-educativo-del-umsnuj71qj.pdf

Concepciones del profesorado sobre el uso educativo del patrimonio

Heritage education is understood to be multifaceted. The way it is approached and conceived in formal educational contexts can differ according to the emphasis policy makers wish to establish. In Flanders, a region within Belgium, a curriculum reform took shape over the last seven years. This paper explores the recently introduced curriculum in Flemish secondary education, in light of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. The main aim is to investigate how heritage education and sustainability fit into the newly developed curriculum framework, and the way they are interlinked on a conceptual level. The qualitative research draws on a screening of policy texts, learning outcomes, and additional interviews with policy advisors. The results show that heritage education is implicitly present. Cross-curricular opportunities are built-in and can be linked to (a) cultural awareness and expression; (b) historical consciousness; (c) citizenship; and (d) intercultural communication. Sustainable development, and more specific ESD, anchored itself firmly and more explicitly into the framework as a transversal key competence as well. However, clear connections to heritage education are not set up in the learning outcomes.

https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8692697/file/8699496.pdf

Connecting Sustainable Development and Heritage Education? An Analysis of the Curriculum Reform in Flemish Public Secondary Schools

Research on heritage education has progressed remarkably and a large number of studies point to a greater presence of active methodologies and the use of resources and primary sources in the classroom. At this point it seems important to investigate the perceptions and experiences of future history and social science teachers. Thus, this paper studies the value that 506 Spanish and English teachers in initial training place on heritage and its presence in the teaching-learning process of history, as well as their views on the existing connections between methodological perceptions and the use of cultural heritage in the classroom. It is a non-experimental descriptive and quantitative study with data collected through questionnaire. This questionnaire was built ad hoc to analyze the opinions and perceptions of teachers in initial training about history education in Secondary Education. The results show that teachers in initial training value highly or very highly the use of cultural heritage in Secondary Education to promote active methodologies, the critical teaching of history, and the development of historical skills. Teachers in training in Spain value more highly the use of heritage than English teachers. While English teachers in training value more highly the resolution of problems through historical documentary sources, Spanish teachers rate the emotional and motivational aspects higher.

/pdf/cultural-heritage-and-methodological-approaches-an-analysis-32gyt9c7m1.pdf

Olaia Fontal

Papers

Cultural Heritage and Methodological Approaches—An Analysis through Initial Training of History Teachers (Spain–England)