CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW
2.2 Heritage
2.2.3 Heritage Education
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it seems unfathomable. However, this relationship is officially driven and empowered by policy; in this case the NCS-History which serves to override the academic debates on the topic.
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nations of Europe. The result of this increased awareness is that many international organisations have put heritage education high up on their agendas and educational departments of many, especially first world countries, have integrated heritage education in their national curricula and at times in the history textbooks (van Wijk, no date).
Article 27 of the International Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage provides evidence of the international concern and consequent promotion of heritage education. The document states that “state parties to this convention shall endeavour by all appropriate means and in particular by educational and information programmes, to strengthen appreciate and respect by their peoples of the cultural and natural heritages [as defined by this convention]” (UNESCO, 1972, p. 13). A further illustration of world heritage education as a UNESCO priority is the launch through its World Heritage Centre in 1994 of the World Heritage in Young Hands (WHYH) project (UNESCO, 2005). This project, according to this world body, is the “flagship programme for promoting education relating to the World Heritage Convention and Sites” (UNESCO, 2005, p. 3). It is claimed that WHYH has been an influential asset for heritage education because it has produced a resource kit that clearly demonstrates how teachers can realise the objectives of heritage education both within and outside their classrooms. This UNESCO interest in heritage education is an indication of how heritage could be used as part of UNESCO efforts, of world peace and security.
In the context of Europe, heritage education according to van Wijk (no date) is a key element in history curricula and history textbooks. The number of school visits to heritage sites has steadily increased in most European nations. For example, research conducted in the United Kingdom (UK) reveal that heritage education is the most popular activity with an estimated three million educational visits to historic sites in England in 2005 to castles, houses, gardens, churches and monuments, mostly by primary and secondary schools but also from colleges and universities, (Borman, no date). The indication here is that in Europe the value of heritage education has been established over a period of more than 10 years and policy makers have been united in
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their efforts to make it possible for this interest to translate into the curriculum documents.
In Africa, Alexander (2011) submits that the continent with its millennia of human history has been and still is a plethora of local heritages. This means that in this context the UNESCO impact of heritage is less compared to other places like Europe. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the subsequent African Union (AU) have over the years been working in collaboration with UNESCO to use education as a tool to improve the situation of the continents common heritage that had been marginalised for decades by the forces of colonisation (UNESCO, 2005). This has resulted in different countries within the continent adopting legislation for the protection of heritage resources such as the National Policy on South African Living Heritage (Department of Arts and Culture, 2009) amongst others. The result is also the inclusion of heritage in the NCS-History of South Africa that acknowledges heritage as one of its outcomes. In this study, such interest in heritage education has led to its inclusion in history textbooks. Therefore heritage and the associated education is a global phenomenon, driven by a host of factors, which culminated in its inclusion in the official intended curriculum.
The agenda behind this is encapsulated by Borman (no date). He submits that heritage education has an important value in that it enables young people to understand, enjoy and care for their historic environment as part of their citizenship obligations. He explains that good citizens are people who are sensitive to the environment irrespective of their political inclinations and social choices. Therefore, if such sensitivity towards the protection of the environment, which is a common heritage, is not awakened in a child or if the child is indifferent towards the significance of heritage, the environment is more likely to be destroyed. This view is shared by van de Kaaij (2004) and Wilhelm (2004).
They both contend that there is a strong affinity between heritage education and a number of contemporary issues such as democracy, citizenship, cultural diversity and mutual understanding. In their view, appreciating heritage through education will generate emotional involvement and ensure people recognise and accept their differences. As such, they argue that heritage education can serve as the catalyst that will help channel this emotional involvement beneficially, see differences in a positive
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light, and reconcile and strengthen similarities. The result of all these attributes will, in their view, be the creation of an authentic citizenship and as it is said “citizens are not born, they are formed” (Copeland, 2004, p. 69). The formation of a proto-type citizen might well be the knowledge acquired through education that equips people with the ability to appreciate their heritage.
Apart from enhancing the citizenship obligation of children, Adler, et al (1987) suggests that heritage education can also help provide young people with a very effective window on the past. They argue that through buildings, for example these children can observe evidence of family life in former times, of older industrial and technological innovation and the growth and development of institutions. At a time when there seems to be a common lack of recognition of the value of the past as evident in the drop in history enrolments in most high schools and universities (Baines, 2007; Kros, 2003 &
Siebörger, 2000), a combination of active sensory activities such as visiting historic sites which are an important aspect of heritage education (Borman, 2004; no date), can make the study of the past more enjoyable and help revive history as a discipline.
However, in spite of this professed value of heritage education, there are still some barriers to its smooth application. A major concern as identified by Borman (2004; no date) are the challenges that most schools face in taking visits to historic sites. These challenges comprise a combination of pressures of time and resources and the health and safety risks that make it challenging to undertake these visits. This does not imply that heritage education outside the classroom is the only prerequisite for a successful heritage education programme, but that the value of such visits as a means of inspiring students of all ages and enhancing their understanding of history cannot be over emphasised.