In addition to highlighting current approaches to cultural heritage, the publication aims to provide ideas for incorporating heritage into the classroom, which teachers can adapt to their specific contexts.
Adriana Careaga, M.A., graduate program advisor at the Institute of Education and author of Heritage Education: Guidelines for Teachers, explained the purpose of the material, while reflecting on its contribution and the importance of heritage education.
How did the idea for this resource on heritage education come about?
The idea came to me a long time ago, back when I first started working in heritage education more than 15 years ago at a cultural center called “Al pie de la Muralla.” There, we conducted educational activities about Montevideo’s fortifications and its founding. To make the activities more meaningful, we provided educational materials before, during, and after the visit.
At the same time, I realized that, while we had bibliographic resources on the subject in the country, they hadn’t yet been adapted for teachers to use in the classroom. So, I began researching the region. I identified several countries that were working on teacher-related issues, and that inspired me to do the same in my own country. In that sense, my journey was a step-by-step process.
What is the purpose of the publication?
First and foremost, to provide food for thought and practical guidance through examples. We also aim to offer ideas for incorporating cultural heritage into the classroom, which teachers can adapt to their specific contexts.
I know that many teachers are working on this issue in different parts of the country. In that sense, these worksheets are simply intended to be one possible approach among many others.
What do you think this will offer teachers, and what do you hope to achieve once this material is published?
The aim is to systematize my experiences with heritage education and highlight current approaches to cultural heritage. In the future, it would be very important to compile all the experiences of teachers into a book that showcases the diverse perspectives on heritage education.
Why do you think it’s important to reflect on heritage education and bring this issue to the forefront?
The concept of heritage takes on a variety of meanings depending on who is involved. At the same time, from a historical perspective, it has evolved over time. It no longer focuses on monuments as it did in the 20th century, but rather on the people who build those monuments.
Furthermore, the field of heritage has expanded its scope today and now encompasses issues such as climate change, human rights, heritage at risk, and the Sustainable Development Goals, among others.
Thus, the approach has shifted. We have shifted the focus of our analysis from objects to people; heritage centered on people. And it is from this perspective that we must recognize that it is people who attribute value to heritage from their present-day perspective, because heritage has more to do with the present than with the past.
“What is heritage? How do I experience it? What does it evoke in me?” These are the questions we should ask ourselves on a personal level, so that we can then reflect on them from a collective perspective.
One of the problems we face today is the tendency to romanticize our cultural heritage and downplay the conflicts inherent in it. In this context, it is the citizens who decide—along with other social actors, such as interest groups, academia, NGOs, and government authorities, among others—what to preserve.
To do this, we must first understand the value of cultural heritage, understood in its broadest sense: both tangible and intangible. The attribution of value is historically constructed, and it is very important to keep that in mind. Therefore, heritage education serves to strengthen the kind of critical, dialogical, empathetic, and participatory citizenship that we want and must build day by day.
Heritage Education: Guidelines for Teachers was published by the Institute of Education at Universidad ORT Uruguay in August 2023.