Heritage definition for kids: Heritage Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster

Опубликовано: November 5, 2022 в 2:04 pm

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What Is Heritage? The Meaning of Cultural Identity • FamilySearch

Defining what is your heritage means understanding your inherited sense of family identity. Explore these questions and activities to strengthen and better express your own sense of heritage.

Defining Your Heritage

The word “heritage” brings to mind different ideas for different people—and it should. Heritage is a person’s unique, inherited sense of family identity: the values, traditions, culture, and artifacts handed down by previous generations. We absorb a sense of our heritage throughout our lives as we observe and experience the things that make our family unique. Although not every inherited trait, tendency, or tradition is positive, we generally consider heritage to be the positive and meaningful elements of our family’s identity that we incorporate into our own lives and pass along to succeeding generations.

Heritage can express itself in many ways. Some families define their heritage primarily as their ethnic, cultural, or national identity. Other families can point to values that have been passed on, such as a love for education, participation in community life, a strong work ethic, or religious devotion. People may feel that an inherited aptitude—such as for music or mechanics, athletics or art—is part of their heritage.

How to Discover Your Heritage

Some people have a strong sense of their heritage. They can point to a flag hanging proudly nearby or repeat stories and traditions shared by their parents or grandparents. Some have a confident sense of the unique interests,occupations, or values found in their family.

Others may have to look a little more closely to identify traces of heritage in their lives. Asking the following questions may help people discover elements of their family’s unique legacy in their lives:

  • How would I define my ethnic, cultural, or national identity? How does this identity shape my sense of who I am?
  • What traditions or rituals do I observe, either in everyday life or on special occasions? Where do those traditions come from?
  • What are my most prized values, hobbies, or interests? Did my parents, siblings, grandparents, or other relatives share these?
  • What positive traits, tendencies, or aptitudes would I use to describe my family in general? How do these traits manifest in my life?
  • What values, traits, interests, or hobbies do I have that I see in my own children or grandchildren or that I would wish to see manifested in younger generations in my family?

Another approach to discovering heritage is to search your family tree and family stories. What nations of origin or ethnic backgrounds are most prominent? If you participate in the FamilySearch Family Tree, it is easy to create a fan-chart view that highlights your ancestral birthplaces, such as the one shown below:

If you already know what countries your family came from, or you just discovered it from looking at your Family Tree, you can dive into learning more about your ancestors’ homelands from the list below.

As you explore your family tree, identify patterns by asking these kinds of questions:

  • Do historical records show patterns in your family’s occupations, especially jobs relating to certain values, interests, or skills?
  • Do you see traditions or traits echoed in the kinds of photos your family takes or what objects they have chosen to keep?
  • What values or feelings do your most important family stories impart?

If you can attend a family reunion or meet with relatives,consider asking others what is meaningful to them about your shared heritage.
Some who seek a stronger sense of cultural or ethnic identity turn to DNA testing. Ethnicity percentages, while not always reliable or specific, may help you discover your ancestral places or cultures of origin.  Connecting with DNA matches can reveal heritage that has been passed down through other branches of the family.

What You Can Do to Honor Your Heritage

For many people, the most meaningful way to honor their heritage is to include elements of it in their own lives. They live the positive values they were taught and pass them on to others. They may choose activities or traditions that help them feel connected to their loved ones. Heirlooms, family photos, and other tangible reminders of their heritage may be displayed in their homes. They may also create new traditions that communicate the values they hope will outlive them.

Many who want to honor their heritage spend time learning about and expanding their family tree. They may interview relatives, label old photos, gather family recipes, and write down the stories they discover so as to preserve a more lasting legacy. Some even travel to ancestral hometowns or homelands to learn more about their heritage and feel more connected to past generations.

Start or explore your family tree for free on FamilySearch.org.

Discover Your Heritage through Travel

Importance of History, Culture & Heritage For kids

Awareness of one’s culture plays a very important role in a child’s development. The cultural heritage of a person is an amalgamation of practices and beliefs passed down from one generation to another. It is not an unknown fact that one’s culture and heritage constitute a major chunk of a person’s identity. Most parents fail to educate their children about their culture and heritage and go on to regret it later. So why is it so essential to ensure your children are aware of their culture? How do you teach your children about their rich heritage? And how will all of it help them become a more grounded and self-confident person? We have all the details! Read on!

Why is culture important in a child’s upbringing?

There are a plethora of reasons as to why you should educate your children about their culture. We bring to you a list of the most common and impactful reasons:

  • Helps build their identity

This is one of the most important reasons to teach your children about their culture and heritage. Knowing their history, where they hail from, and events that shaped their families, help children build their own identity.

Most children face a lot of trouble creating their unique identity during their teenage years. This can result in them trying to imitate other cultures and values in an attempt to “fit in”. Studies have proven that children who have in-depth knowledge about their culture tend to be more confident and comfortable in their own skin.

  • Instils values and morals

Every culture or tradition teaches kids strong ethical values and morals. Teaching your kids about values and morals will be more effective if they connect it to something, like their rich cultural heritage. Instead of enforcing values on your kids, educate them about their culture and the morals that it preaches. This will help your kids take a moral path as they grow up. It will also inspire them to do better and be better human beings.

  • Create unique memories

You are highly likely to remember the time you spent with your family on holidays when it comes to childhood memories. When your children are aware of their culture, they are more likely to willingly participate in family traditions, get-together, and festivals. This helps create unique memories that they are bound to remember way into their adult life. Studies have shown that adults who can remember happy childhood memories are less likely to be depressed or anxious.

  • Adds more colour to one’s life

Every culture is beautiful and filled with unique traditions. Culture adds spice and colour to one’s lives. Be it through festivals or simple family traditions, you are bound to make life more exciting for your children by introducing them to their culture. These traditions not only make your child happy but also gives them a chance to introduce their best friends to a unique part of their life and bond over it.

  • Protects culture and heritage

Your children are going to be the ones who carry on your culture and heritage in the future. Educating your children about their culture at a young age builds a sense of responsibility from a young age to protect and carry on this rich heritage. By teaching your kids about culture, not only are you making them strong and independent individuals but you are also protecting your culture.

  • Builds a strong family bond

Festivals and family traditions give children a great opportunity to connect with their grandparents and relatives. These festivals also help bring families closer and improve their bond. After all, it is hard to sulk at your parents for not getting the latest Ps5 when there is a plate of Ladoos tempting you in the kitchen.

How to teach your children about their culture?

So now that you know the importance of culture and heritage in a child’s upbringing, it is time to delve into the ways of making this happen. Contrary to what many people think, teaching children about their culture is not as hard as they make it seem. All it takes is a little patience and determination to make it happen. Here are 4 simple ways to teach your children about their culture:

  • Speak in your native tongue

This is one of the best ways to keep your culture alive. If you haven’t done it already, make an effort to teach your kids about their native tongue. The best way to do so is by talking to the native language at home until they pick it up. Additionally, you can also enrol your kids in language classes. This will not only help your child appreciate their culture but enables the ability to speak another language.

  • Celebrate festivals

Regardless of whether you are in your home country or far away from it, always celebrate your festivals. This is one of the easiest and fun ways to get your children to learn and appreciate their culture. Allow your kids to invite their friends to the celebration and share their culture with others.

  • Swap the regular bedtime stories for cultural ones

What better way to teach your kids about their culture than through interesting stories? Swap your regular fairytales for intriguing stories from your homeland. These stories not only educate your kids about their heritage but also act as a great tool in teaching morals and values.

  • Let them indulge in traditional clothing, food, and activities

Encourage your kids to indulge in cultural activities and experiment with traditional food and clothing. Introduce them to traditional art forms and movies from your homeland and try cooking the popular dishes from your culture over the weekend. This step is highly effective in also helping your child figure out what they like and build a unique personality.

What are the steps you have taken to educate your children about their culture and heritage? Let the other parents know in the comments!

Heritage Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.

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  • British

This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.

[ her-i-tij ]

/ ˈhɛr ɪ tɪdʒ /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for heritage on Thesaurus.com

This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.

noun

something that is handed down from the past, as a tradition: a national heritage of honor, pride, and courage.

something that comes or belongs to one by reason of birth; an inherited lot or portion: a heritage of poverty and suffering.

something reserved for one: the heritage of the righteous.

Law.

  1. something that has been or may be inherited by legal descent or succession.
  2. any property, especially land, that devolves by right of inheritance.

adjective

noting or relating to a product, place, etc., that evokes a nostalgic sense of tradition or history: visitors to a heritage site in the Middle East.

noting or relating to an older, traditional breed of animal or plant: raising pure-breed heritage hogs.Compare heirloom (def. 3).

OTHER WORDS FOR heritage

2 estate, patrimony.

See synonyms for heritage on Thesaurus.com

VIDEO FOR HERITAGE

What Is The Difference Between “Heritage” And “Inheritance”?

While inheritance and heritage may seem similar, and the definitions do have some overlap, there is a distinct difference.

MORE VIDEOS FROM DICTIONARY.COM

QUIZ

SHALL WE PLAY A “SHALL” VS. “SHOULD” CHALLENGE?

Should you take this quiz on “shall” versus “should”? It should prove to be a quick challenge!

Question 1 of 6

Which form is commonly used with other verbs to express intention?

Origin of heritage

1175–1225; Middle English, from Middle French, equivalent to heriter to inherit + -age -age; see heir

synonym study for heritage

2. See inheritance.

Words nearby heritage

Hering, heriot, Herisau, heritability, heritable, heritage, heritance, heritor, Herkimer, herky-jerky, herl

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

Words related to heritage

ancestry, culture, custom, legacy, right, tradition, bequest, birthright, convention, dowry, endowment, estate, fashion, inheritance, lot, patrimony, portion, share, heirship, heritance

How to use heritage in a sentence

  • Rio Tinto Group Chief Executive Officer Jean-Sebastien Jacques will step down amid an investor backlash over the destruction of ancient Aboriginal heritage sites in Australia.

    The CEO of mining giant Rio Tinto is forced out following the destruction of an ancient archeological site|Bernhard Warner|September 11, 2020|Fortune

  • One recent study estimates that only 1% of research on the impacts of climate change on heritage is related to Africa.

    Some of Africa’s most important heritage sites will be lost to climate change without intervention|Nick Brooks|August 20, 2020|Quartz

  • The movement has been led by young Kumeyaay women, who say the government has ignored evidence of the cultural heritage sites they’re now building over.

    Border Report: Kumeyaay Band Sues to Stop Border Wall Construction|Maya Srikrishnan|August 17, 2020|Voice of San Diego

  • Minnesota spends around $39 million on the arts and cultural heritage every year.

    Can the Arts Save Rural America From the Recession?|Charu Kasturi|August 16, 2020|Ozy

  • Jim accidentally pinned a young bicyclist between the bumper of his Chevy C10 and a heritage oak in Palo Alto, California.

    When Jesus Freaks Go Bad|Eugene Robinson|August 6, 2020|Ozy

  • However, being of Arab heritage and Muslim, I’d really love to see an Arab or Muslim James Bond.

    Rush Limbaugh’s Fear of a Black James Bond|Dean Obeidallah|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

  • There are six UNESCO biosphere reserves and nine UNESCO World Heritage sites.

    Goodbye, Bahamas. Hello, Havana!|Clive Irving|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

  • An Australian woman in her late twenties told me she was an “honorary Jew” with no actual Jewish heritage.

    I Ate Potato Pancakes Til I Plotzed|Emily Shire|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST

  • A more recent phenomenon in the political universe is politicians of Hispanic heritage who are not fluent in Spanish.

    Which Potential Candidates Speak Spanish—and Will It Matter?|Eleanor Clift|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST

  • Virtually all the southwestern gangs of Mexican heritage (Surenos or Southsiders) are under their control.

    The Mexican Mafia Is the Daddy of All Street Gangs|Seth Ferranti|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST

  • He knew that there was cardiac trouble in his family, but he had never realized before the meaning of his heritage.

    Dope|Sax Rohmer

  • It was only Dutch, a foolish charm, a heritage of barbarity and ignorance, but I was too weary to protest.

    The Soldier of the Valley|Nelson Lloyd

  • A desire for happiness is our common heritage, he was saying in his richly melodious voice.

    The Fifth String  |John Philip Sousa

  • God has given the American people a goodly heritage—the fairest the world has ever seen.

    Portrait and Biography of Parson Brownlow, The Tennessee Patriot|William Gannaway Brownlow

  • And if the monumental record of their virtues be a just one, why did they heirloom on posterity this bitter heritage of swearing?

    A Cursory History of Swearing|Julian Sharman

British Dictionary definitions for heritage

heritage

/ (ˈhɛrɪtɪdʒ) /

noun

something inherited at birth, such as personal characteristics, status, and possessions

anything that has been transmitted from the past or handed down by tradition

  1. the evidence of the past, such as historical sites, buildings, and the unspoilt natural environment, considered collectively as the inheritance of present-day society
  2. (as modifier; cap. as part of name)Bannockburn Heritage Centre

something that is reserved for a particular person or group or the outcome of an action, way of life, etcthe sea was their heritage; the heritage of violence

law any property, esp land, that by law has descended or may descend to an heir

Bible

  1. the Israelites regarded as belonging inalienably to God
  2. the land of Canaan regarded as God’s gift to the Israelites

Word Origin for heritage

C13: from Old French; see heir

Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Sources and roots: introducing the child to folk culture

Defectologist teacher Svetlana Tsvetkova and social psychologist Anastasia Shabunova talk about the study of the cultural heritage of their native country, the benefits of local history and the upbringing of patriotic feelings.

2022 was declared the Year of the Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Russia, and this is no coincidence. Nowadays, honoring and observing folk traditions, handed down from generation to generation for centuries, is not very common. But in difficult times of social change and political storms, turning to the origins and studying native history can introduce a child to folk culture and have a beneficial effect on the development of his personality.

The beginning of the beginnings

Folk culture is a collective concept that includes cultural layers of different eras: from ancient times to the present. Traditional folk culture determines and normalizes all aspects of community life: way of life, forms of housekeeping, customs, rituals, social relationships among members of society, family type, upbringing of children, the nature of the home, development of the surrounding space, clothing, food, relationships with nature, the world, legends. , beliefs, beliefs, knowledge, language, folklore.

An important quality of folk culture is reliance on tradition as a way of collective accumulation of the social experience of a community, ethnic group, group. Introduction to such public knowledge helps the child to feel his belonging to the family, society, country, which instills patriotic feelings from an early age and awakens love for his native land.

The concept of “folk culture” is associated with a variety of everyday associations. In the most general form, we can say that a lot of concepts and objects, in the name of which there is the definition of “folk”, are associated with folk culture in the public mind. They are quite widely represented in culture and language: folk art, folk art, folk wisdom, folk traditions, legends, beliefs, songs, dances, proverbs, folk craftsmen, etc.

We comprehend these concepts from the very first steps, and the sooner we begin to introduce children to the world of folk culture, the better results we achieve.

Associations and symbols

Each country has its own official, state symbols – coat of arms, flag, anthem – and unofficial symbols. From them you can easily guess what area we are talking about. If the postcard shows the Eiffel Tower, then it is from France, and when you see a reindeer, pictures of the North pop up in your imagination.

What is our country associated with?

The first unofficial symbol of Russia is bear . What associations does it evoke? The bear is a predator, one of the largest on the planet. He represents power. On the one hand, the bear seems so clumsy, clumsy, but everyone knows that he can be fast and agile. The bear is also a symbol of good nature: in fairy tales it is always kind, simple-hearted, but if you anger him, he shows rage, heroic strength, and power.

The next symbol is matryoshka . This toy is often bought by tourists as a souvenir. There are two points of view on the origin of its name. First: about the connection of the matryoshka with one of the most common names – Matryona. The second version: the name “matryoshka” comes from the Latin word mater , that is, mother.

Reliability in this case does not matter much. The main thing is to tell the child about it and try to interest him. In addition to knowledge, when getting acquainted with the matryoshka, the baby will receive an excellent educational toy, interacting with which, he will learn to correlate parts of the whole with each other.

Another unofficial symbol of our country – kokoshnik . Throughout its existence, it became either more or less popular, but after the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the kokoshnik became extremely popular. Many foreigners, and not only women, but also men, sat in the stands in kokoshniks.

The name “kokoshnik” comes from the ancient Russian word “kokosh” (chicken, mother hen). Obviously, our ancestors compared this headdress with a chicken comb. That is why it is so bright and beautiful.

Russia also has a musical unofficial symbol – balalaika , in the past a constant companion of holidays and gatherings. The name “balalaika” is related to such words as “balakat”, “balabolit”, “joke”. That is, the name directly indicates the use. The purpose of this musical instrument is entertainment, maintaining a good mood, creating a positive mood.

An integral part of the folk culture of our country is birch . The image of a birch tree is used in many fairy tales and personifies warmth, comfort, kindness.

In addition to symbols common to the country, each region can have its own local sights and legends.

Tell your child about what you think is most relevant at the moment. Moreover, it is important not only to name an object or concept, but also to report some interesting information about it. The main thing is to evoke emotions in the child in response to the story. Then the information received will be remembered for a long time.

Ways of transmission

It is possible to acquaint a child, even the smallest one, with their native history using the following methods and techniques.

1. Reading folk tales. They tell about the former way of life, life, economy. Fairy tales are the most organic way to introduce a young child to history.

2. Looking at illustrations. If we just read the story and do not show the child the illustrations, he may develop his own image of what he heard. Most likely, it will be something modern. And with the help of looking at the illustrations, the child will receive reliable information. Therefore, it is very important not only to read a fairy tale to a child, but also to consider illustrations with him. This technique allows you to direct the perception of the baby to those important moments that we form.

3. Display of antiques. It is good if the family has some old things passed down from generation to generation. When a child touches such objects, he receives impressions that cannot be obtained anywhere else. It can be dishes, old books, napkins, badges, anything. Be sure to familiarize the child with them, let them touch, touch the history. And if you also accompany the “acquaintance” with stories, then this will saturate the child not only with knowledge, but also with vivid impressions. If the family does not have such things, then you can visit the local history museum with your children.

An important rule: if you want to convey some information to a child so that he understands it, realizes it and remembers it for a long time, you need to evoke emotions in him. Feelings and experiences from what he saw and heard with their subsequent discussion is a sure way to form in a child the skills, abilities and character traits necessary for his development.

You can watch the webinar of Svetlana Tsvetkova and Anastasia Shabunova at the All-Russian Week of Parental Competence here.

The influence of cultural and historical heritage on the upbringing of the younger generation

References:

Lysenkova, MV Influence of cultural and historical heritage on the upbringing of the younger generation / MV Lysenkova. – Text: direct // Pedagogy today: problems and solutions: materials of the V Intern. scientific conf. (St. Petersburg, July 2019). – St. Petersburg: Own publishing house, 2019. – S. 28-30. — URL: https://moluch.ru/conf/ped/archive/337/15182/ (date of access: 07.10.2022).



The farther into the future we look,

The more we value the past.

And we find beauty in the old,

At least we belong to the new.

Karamzin N. M.

The system of school education is sensitive to the processes taking place in society. The adoption of Western models of education entails the borrowing of the content of education, Western models of thinking, stereotypes of behavior, worldview. Meanwhile, the great Russian teacher K. D. Ushinsky concluded that the Western school is by no means oriented towards world culture, but towards its own, national culture. A. S. Pushkin, who received an excellent education at the best educational institution in Russia – the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, wrote to his brother Lev from Mikhailovsky in 1824: “In the evenings I listen to fairy tales and thereby reward the shortcomings of my accursed upbringing.” [1] Today there is no doubt that folk culture, which has socio-cultural dominants, regulates the relationship of a person with reality, should become the basis of the educational system at school. Respect for the historical experience of the people and a sense of belonging to the native people, an active creative orientation of activity, awareness of the need to live in harmony with the outside world – these are the main directions in raising children. “The Russian people should not lose their moral authority among other peoples – an authority worthily won by Russian art and literature. We should not forget about our cultural past”… (Likhachev D.) [2]. That is why the native culture, like father and mother, should become an integral part of the soul of the child, the beginning that generates the personality. And it is necessary to start instilling patriotism from an early age, because the years of childhood are, first of all, the education of the heart. In the work of the Russian people, the special features of the Russian character, its inherent moral values, have been preserved. We have the opportunity to look back and take from there everything that is really valuable and eternal. After all, what millions of our predecessors created by the experience of their own lives cannot be useless.

The tasks for students are: awareness of oneself as a person, acceptance and understanding of one’s own value as a Human, awareness of one’s relationships with the world and one’s place in the surrounding reality, familiarization with the symbolic reality of culture, creative self-realization, aesthetic development. A teacher should be a bright personality, a source of spiritual enrichment for pupils, and students should be partners, striving for a joint search for solutions to the tasks set. Obviously, not only the influence of the teacher on the pupils, but also the pupils on the teacher, which encourages him to professional self-education.

K. D. Ushinsky argued that a person can be brought up only by a person. The richer spiritually, culturally diverse, morally purer the teacher, the brighter the trace that he leaves in the souls of pupils – and, consequently, the more successful and effective the process of “teaching” values ​​will be. Education based on values ​​involves the development of the evaluative sphere of the personality, it naturally relies on emotions and the purposeful cultivation of “higher feelings”: empathy, love, respect, pride, compassion … Emotional and sensual filling of individual spiritual and moral concepts helps pupils to comprehend them not only with the mind, but also with your heart, let them pass through your soul.

Education based on a humanitarian picture of the world requires students to discover the beauty of the world around them, the place and role of a person as a creator in it. This is possible only through introducing children to human culture, understood as a system of universal values ​​and meanings enshrined in its creations. Such initiation can be built through the development of children’s inherent ability for aesthetic perception and creativity – through the game. At the same time, it is important to ensure the possibility of a small creator’s own cultural activity. The full realization of such a goal is impossible, but it is necessary to strive for this as an ideal. However, this does not mean that such a goal is illusory and abstract. She is real. How real are Culture, Goodness, Beauty, although they do not lend themselves to an unambiguous definition. And I am glad that in many of my students there is a spark of love for their country, for their people, and the children never cease to admire and wonder at the world around them. Conducting extra-curricular activities, creativity lessons, performing folk songs, participating in games, round dances, working together with museums under the “Growing Together with the Museum” program, collaborating with creative people, visiting their workshops, children master the circle of artistic images, the language system of artistic culture , and at the same time, each child gradually, imperceptibly for himself, goes through the process of socialization. Complex problems of communication, self-affirmation, creative self-expression in the children’s environment are being solved.

Much attention is paid to the education of patriotism and tolerance. I believe that a citizen and patriot of his country treats other citizens with respect and attention. Work is underway to bring cultures together: songs, dances, fairy tales, traditions of different peoples are organically introduced into events and lessons. It is important that children be travelers, discoverers, creators in this world. Creativity and creative activity determine the values ​​of a person. The activity is focused on creating conditions for the formation of key competencies (communicative, social, informational, activity), on the development of each child’s abilities:

− to systematic successful learning;

− to a conscious and responsible choice;

– responsibility for oneself, loved ones, the world around;

− self-actualization, self-realization.

An example of a student’s work.

Memories from the life of relatives in years

of the Great Patriotic War.

Memory is not just a tribute, boundless gratitude to the heroes, admiration for the feat of millions. It is our daily need to feel our personal involvement in the fate, in life, in the deeds and accomplishments of our people.

My great-grandmother and great-grandfather during the Great Patriotic War lived in Belarus near the town of Disna. They remembered this time with horror and tears in their eyes. The Nazi invaders almost completely destroyed the city of Disna. During the war, many terrible events happened in that area. On October 22, 1941, the Gebitskommissar announced that within half an hour all Jews must move to the ghetto (camp for Jews). Fear and horror seized the population. Belarusians, Jews, Poles lived here together for decades. From the first days, the Germans began to drive the entire Jewish population, right down to the children. The Jews were forced to do unbearable hard work and at the same time they were mocked and tortured in every possible way. Communication with peasants under pain of death was forbidden. Many peasants, despite the danger that threatened them, handed over food to the ghetto.

On December 1, 1941, the systematic extermination of the Jewish population began. On June 14, 1942, many punishers drove a crowd of Jews. The Jews dug their own holes, and the police guarded them. Jews were shot by Germans and policemen. The groan stood as if the sky had collapsed. The children were buried alive in the pits. The shooting continued all day. Approximately 3800 people were shot.

By evening, the pits were filled with corpses to the very top. They were covered with sand. The earth began to move at night. Blood began to seep out of the sand. The Germans ordered to bring lime and fill the hole with it. A whole hill was poured, which turned into a monolith. Some managed to escape from the ghetto and hid in the woods. At night they came to the village, and the great-great-grandmother’s family helped them with clothes and food. Partisans also came to the village at night. They asked to be taken to a certain settlement. Great-grandfather helped them. It was very dangerous, if the Germans noticed this, they brutally cracked down on the population.

On May 9, we often remember the lives of relatives during the Great Patriotic War.

Fomina Evgenia.

To activate the interest of students in various fields of knowledge, and despite the younger age, research work is carried out. The students tried themselves in the role of a researcher at the National State Museum of Art and Music, examining the picture of Makovsky K.E. “Minin on the square of Nizhny Novgorod, calling on the people to donate.”

A fragment of the study of the painting.

Makovsky Konstantin Yegorovich created the painting “Minin on the square of Nizhny Novgorod, calling on the people to donate.” The painting depicts the period of the Time of Troubles, when the country perished in rebellions and strife.

The painting, which is seven meters high and six meters wide, depicts one hundred portraits of people. The action took place at the Ivanovo Congress. All people, both the poor and the rich, made donations. Even a beggar is ready to give his cross.

And how is Minin himself depicted! I think I hear his words.

This picture struck me to the depths of my soul, you feel like a direct hero of events.

Shongin Mikhail

It is from the origins of Russian culture (songs, pestles, fairy tales, epics . ..) that the child draws those human values ​​that influence his life. Therefore, the upbringing of children by the means and the very content of folk culture is an appeal to what the child already owns, since this is transmitted from birth through the melody, grammatical structure and vocabulary of the native language, for which he is internally ready, for which he is open. Children are invited to think and analyze, find cause-and-effect relationships, draw conclusions, consider a phenomenon or an object in its diversity from different angles. From the beauty of nature we move on to the beauty of words, music, and painting. Through beauty to humanity.

By implementing the ideas of the classical pedagogical heritage and introducing innovative technologies, using the main axiological and cultural approaches, I believe that it is possible to develop human nature, consider the versatility of human relations, develop the complex dialectics of the Soul, educate a person – a citizen.

Literature:

  1. Pushkin A. S. Collected works in 10 vols, V.9, L. S. Pushkin. First half of November 1824 From Mikhailovsky to St. Petersburg. (https://rvb.ru/pushkin/01text/10letters/1815_30/01text/1824/1279_96.htm)
  2. Likhachev D. S. Memory overcomes time.// Our heritage, No. 1, 1998.
  3. Ushinsky K.D. Man as a subject of education. Experience of pedagogical anthropology. M.: FAIR-PRESS, 2004.

Basic terms (automatically generated) : Great Patriotic War, world around, child, raising children, Disna, Jew, Jewish population, life of relatives, picture, folk culture, Nizhny Novgorod, calling people, Russian people, volume .

Folk education children Evens | Journal article…

Some aspects of the national upbringing of children of Evens, the indigenous inhabitants of the North, are considered. Keywords: family, education , children , culture , success. The Evens are the indigenous peoples of the North.

The formation of pupils’ ideas about family …

A small child initially has a trusting attitude towards people, openness to the surrounding world , positive self-perception.

The first variety of culture , to which a child joins while still infancy, is “ folk culture ”.

Patriotic

education of preschoolers through familiarization…

Thematic field. Introduction of children to Russian folk art, education of patriotic.

Folklore, folk – applied arts not only form love for the traditions of their people , but also enrich the knowledge children about the surrounding life .

Education tolerance in children senior preschool…

Education in children such important and, at , , complex qualities as tolerance

Plach children to Culture people and nationalities living nearby, we are

In addition, in these booklets may contain a description of the rules not only Russian folk games , and…

The relevance of self-consciousness and the restoration of the historical…

Knowledge of the sources Patriotic Culture , morals, customs of their people is necessary for TO

“Formation of state policy in the field of education children – Priority task

Question children and children and children and children youth is always relevant, because without it it is impossible. ..

Education children on traditions folk culture

Titmouse Day. Introduce children to culture Russian people , introduce folk traditions ; continue acquaintance with Russian folk sayings, proverbs and beliefs. V.Yu. Dyachenko, O.P. Vlasenko “ Surrounding world ” Volgograd: Teacher 2008 page…

Education citizen and patriot through history and culture …

Therefore, children need to know and study the culture of their ancestors. The feeling of patriotism is both love for one’s native places, and pride in one’s own people , it is a feeling of one’s inseparability with the surrounding world and the desire to preserve and increase the wealth of one’s country.

The role of historical and cultural monuments

in nurturing modern…

Patriotic education of children of preschool age .

Great Patriotic war war , patriotic education , Kaluga region, Russia, education of patriotism , native land, Patriotic war, my native homeland

Acquaintance

children older with national…

In modern conditions the upbringing of children of preschool age acquires new guidelines.

As a result of the work carried out, children expanded their understanding of the life of the Buryats, expanded the circle of knowledge, showed interest in culture and traditions of the Buryat people .

Chapter 5. Cultural heritage and education system. Arya van Feldhuizen…

Arja van Feldhuizen

Reinwardt Academy

Audience Handbook

Heritage and the public

Schoolchildren have long been an important target group for museums. Thanks to public policy, at least in the Netherlands, cultural institutions have given schools more attention in the last fifteen years. Today, the state places other accents, and austerity measures lead to changes in the field of culture, which means that the model of interaction between cultural institutions and the education system is also changing.

When I was in the fourth grade, we had a school tour about the facades of historic houses in the city center. She became a revelation to me. I very often visited the center with my mother – we bought clothes and other things – but I never looked higher than the shop windows! Now I saw these facades, all completely different, in which small facade slabs with symbols of merchant families and professions of bygone years are inserted. I had no idea that these houses have seen so much and that the city has existed for so long. My city.

Heritage can be a powerful learning aid in the formal education system, provided schools and heritage institutions know each other and schools understand the added value of cultural education. In turn, an employee of a cultural institution who is professionally engaged in educational activities must know how the education system works and understand the practice of everyday school life. Pedagogical frameworks, methodologies, didactics and curricula need to be taken into account, as well as organizational issues such as budget, timetables, teachers’ perpetual overload, travel frequency and distance restrictions. A museum teacher must develop an educational product that clearly corresponds to the level of schoolchildren with all their age characteristics. If this works out, teachers will also see how effectively cultural events help achieve educational outcomes. And, more importantly, students will experience how heritage can inspire and enrich.

From a fiery speech by an employee of the Rijksmuseum’s education department, dedicated to the vast collections of this museum, I remember most of all his last phrase – about what schoolchildren could remember a couple of weeks after visiting the museum: “Ah, this is when Mark vomited on the bus!”

5.1 Cultural and heritage education: concepts and concepts

Cultural education in the Netherlands, as in other Western countries, is traditionally defined as “all forms of education in which culture figures as an end or as a means” . In many schools, cultural education is recognized as a goal: “We will be painting because we believe that children’s mastery of this skill is important.” But schools can also use it as a tool to, for example, develop social competencies or stimulate emotional development.

In the Netherlands, cultural education is divided into art education, heritage education and media education. Arts education is a collective concept that includes educational activities in the following six disciplines:

– Theatre: attendance at performances, skits in the classroom, musicals;

– Fine arts: painting, drawing, visiting art museums, sculpture, art history;

– Music: playing an instrument, singing, making music, attending concerts and musicals;

– Dance: dance classes in the classroom, attending dance performances;

– Literature: reading, using the library, reading aloud, writer in class.

– Audiovisual education: film, photography and video;

Heritage education includes teaching through heritage and learning about heritage. In practice, this discipline is often confused with history. In the case of heritage, it is always about traces of the past that we consider worthy of being preserved for the future. This assessment is made by a certain group of people in terms of the functioning of the heritage in the present. It is something other than an objective meaning that meets scientific criteria – something that is characteristic of such a subject as history. There, children just learn to think from a historical distance.

Cultural heritage can be important on several levels:

• Heritage for a particular person – a family tree, things that are inherited, things that are close and therefore can be presented already at the level of preschool education;

• Environmental heritage – something related to the history of a village or city and can be a good addition to subjects such as history or geography;

• World heritage – the heritage of one’s country (or world heritage – of all mankind). In addition to history and geography, it is also combined with social science.

The Erasmus University of Rotterdam conducted a study on how heritage education contributes to the development of historical knowledge. Researchers have identified different points of view on the past, and education in the field of cultural heritage has been recognized as one of the ways to perceive one’s own culture. Students learn to operate with such dimensions as time, space and significance, while they are affected at three levels: sensory (smell, sight, touch, hearing and taste), affective (emotions, feelings) and cognitive (thinking, reasoning). They are encouraged to assign personal significance to heritage, thereby developing a historical consciousness in students.

In the Netherlands, this method of teaching is mainly used to teach people to look at an object or phenomenon from different points of view. In other countries, it is also used to make students aware of the identity of their country and feel that they belong to a group. In this case, the events of the past are seen as a reason to be proud of one’s history. Therefore, at international meetings, the Dutch approach to education in the field of cultural heritage often requires additional explanations.

Archival education is something completely different. Unlike education in museums or other cultural heritage institutions, the “what” question is central here. The user is given the opportunity to interpret the contents of the archive fund, considering it from two points of view: from the point of view of the history of its occurrence and according to the principle of ordering, laid down by those who formed the archive. In this case, the most important question will be: “What is the value of the information that I found?” Historical and cultural value is the value from the point of view of the archival collection, while the exhibition value can be assigned primarily to individual archival documents. The most important goals of archival education are to learn to separate these two types of value and thereby learn to understand the essence of the archival institution.

Media education is an even broader concept. Firstly, because we are talking here about a variety of means of communication, such as cinema, photography, radio, books, newspapers, the Internet and social networks. But it is also broad in purpose – to equip students with the necessary knowledge, to prepare them to be able to think critically and approach everything creatively in a complex and changing world saturated with media:

• Being knowledgeable: how does it work?

• Think critically: is what I’m told true?

• Be creative: how can I apply it?

In education, there is the concept of “media literacy”, which is related to the first two aspects (handling the media skillfully and critically). This is also important when working with resources related to the field of cultural heritage. Libraries are often partners of schools in organizing media literacy classes.

Fig. 23. Various forms of cultural education

The division into education in the field of heritage, arts and media may seem clear and precise, but in practice neither in the cultural sector nor in the education system is there a complete understanding of what “cultural education” is. In the case of museums, the answer to this question depends on the nature of the collection. Thus, art museums are more related to art education, historical museums are more related to heritage education, but the 17th century cityscape has both historical and artistic value. And where should the Museum of Communication be placed?

Traditionally, almost all provinces and major cities in the Netherlands have art centers that support art education. Many of these centers began to coordinate cultural education. In the case of art disciplines, this is natural, but often they do not have professional knowledge in the field of heritage and media. Therefore, in practice, heritage is sometimes treated as the seventh direction of art education, which does not always correspond to the own tasks of education in the field of heritage. Embedding media education is even more difficult, so there is rarely a place for it. Often they work only with such an aspect as media art, including it in audiovisual or fine art.

5.2 Cultural education in the Netherlands

The Dutch education system is difficult to explain to foreigners. There is weak centralized regulation here, which is explained by the constitutional freedom of education associated with freedom of religion. As a result, there are many types of schools with a wide variety of content in the curriculum – and hence the forms of education in the field of culture and heritage.

The structure of education is becoming more and more vague. The number of different types of schools is growing, partly due to increased competition in the education market. Teaching methods are also becoming more diverse, which is why, for example, in a history lesson, the same era is passed in different classes. Sometimes methods are completely abandoned, and education is organized according to the thematic principle. Recently, special attention has been paid to gifted students: an increasing number of schools are opening special classes for them.

The content of education and the role of culture in it

The state imposes requirements on the content of education, but uses a wide framework. For the level of primary education, 58 main learning outcomes were formulated, for secondary education – another 58 outcomes. Schools themselves can determine how to achieve these results within the available hours and instructions of the educational inspectorate. The topics of heritage are mainly related to the results of training in the areas of “orientation in art” and “orientation in oneself and the world around.” To help cultural institutions, publishing houses and schools, independent consultants have developed framework curricula that include a heritage module.

How does cultural education fit into all these learning outcomes and core competencies? In this Dutch primary and secondary education are different. In elementary school, cultural education is a well-known concept. It also includes education in the field of heritage, as we explained above. Within the framework of the subject “World around us”, schools also pay attention to heritage, both in relation to their environment and without it. The teacher can use historical and cultural teaching both instead of direct teaching material on this subject, and in addition to it.

Fig. 24. Pictograms used in education for ten historical eras according to the Canon of Dutch History

In a very different way, cultural education is built into secondary school. “Culture” is included in the subject “Cultural and Art Education”, which was introduced in the 1999-2000 academic year to familiarize teenagers with culture and cultural institutions. In addition, the basic curriculum of the secondary school includes classes in such art disciplines as music, dance, drama and visual arts (handiwork, drawing, textile work and audiovisual education). Cultural heritage does not have its own place, but aspects of it can be included in subjects such as history, geography or civics, or, depending on the teacher, in Cultural Arts Education.

Collaboration and networking

Although attempts to bridge the gap between education and culture have been made for two decades, in practice they are still two different worlds with their own tasks and terminology. However, thanks to per capita financial incentives, cultural education is included in the school curriculum, and every school has at least one cultural coordinator. Curricula have been drawn up, coordinators are assisted in their work by local networks, a lot of useful information can be found on a special website.

What was the result of all this effort? Australian professor Ann Bamford in her report “Networks and connections: cultural and arts education in the Netherlands” concludes that the Netherlands is ahead of other countries in cultural education. It turned out that school coordinators work successfully, and cultural institutions raise the level of secondary education. At the same time, Bamford points out the vulnerability of cultural education, since it is not yet sufficiently rooted as part of the main activity of the school.

More and more “art menus”, cultural programs, “museum + school” programs and others are springing up at the local and regional level – as soon as they are not named locally! Most often there is a single focal point, such as the local arts center or someone in the municipality. The filling of the programs takes place through the joint efforts of the employees of the educational institution and representatives of the cultural sector.

When creating such projects, the following aspects should be taken into account:

• Discounts and other benefits of scale – the same scheme applies to many schools;

• Facilitate the work of schools and cultural institutions through centralized coordination, up to ordering buses;

• Ensuring that every student visits cultural institutions. Even if an individual teacher does not consider such events important, the class still goes, because the matter is organized at the level of the entire school;

• Continuity – if schools participate once, they continue to participate year after year. This pays off the cultural providers’ investment in creating new programs.

Such programs are going like clockwork, they are loved in the education system, so they are successful. But at the same time, there is no room for the individual needs of those schools that want to consciously use elements of culture in their curriculum. In other words, such collective programs correspond more to the first scenario than to the second and third ones (see Fig. 25). Often, cultural institutions benefit from collective programs; in some museums, these programs provide more than half of the total number of school visitors. However, the independence of the coordinating organization can also be a problem. It is precisely because of such massive programs that it is difficult to introduce other programs in schools. In addition, many local cultural programs have recently been called into question due to budget cuts.

Fig. 25. Three scenarios for cultural education from the report Hart(d) voor Cultuur, 2003

The next step has now been taken in the state policy towards cultural education. The national program “Cultural education – qualitatively” is aimed at securing cultural education as an integral part of the work of both the education system and cultural institutions. Programs are being implemented in all provinces and large cities to encourage schools to view cultural education not as something extra, but as a means of personal development of children. It is at a time when public opinion and educational inspectorates are placing such emphasis on language and mathematics, on the “effectiveness” of teaching, that many teachers feel the need to develop other qualities in schoolchildren. The key concept here is creativity: if cultural education can enhance the creative potential of schoolchildren, then they will learn to think more flexibly and find innovative solutions, and master the skills of the 21st century necessary for life in an ever-changing society.

“Culture in the Mirror”

The new program “Cultural Education – Quality” continues the research program “Culture in the Mirror”, in which cognition specialist Barend van Heusden from the University of Groningen studied the relationship of cultural education with education in general and with stages of student development. What is the child capable of and at what age? How can children not only learn about culture, but also reflect on what it means to them? What skills do they need to acquire to be able to think creatively? And what means (including means of communication) should they master?

This requires better interaction between providers of cultural content and the education system. It is recommended to check the proposed topics for compliance with the educational needs and the level of development of the target audience. Cultural content providers (museums) should also pay attention to the means of communication (media skills) students have. In addition, the cultural institution and the school must respect the interests and tasks of each other and fix the agreements in writing.

Many institutions of culture and art have enthusiastically embraced the program “Culture in the Mirror” and its theoretical foundations. This is due to the need to recognize the importance of cultural education. But it is still difficult to say whether schools will work under this program in the coming years. Nevertheless, all project participants stated in 2012 that the mere opportunity to think together about the place of culture in education is of great value: “I now understand better what I do and why”; “It expands my vision of the entire education system as a whole”; “Cultural education is no longer an addition, but a full-fledged part of the curriculum.” The role of the cultural industry, and therefore cultural institutions, is changing dramatically: now it is not schools that are concerned about how to use the content we offer, but we, as a cultural partner of schools, are thinking about how we can contribute to school education using our unique qualities and experience. Especially – a contribution to the cultural and creative development of children. Schools expect from us what teachers cannot give.

5.3 Best practices

How does the student perceive heritage? In many educational programs, a visit to a museum or heritage site is preceded by preparatory lessons, followed by reflection at school. Good preparation is of the utmost importance. If learners already know the context, there can be no massive transfer of information on the spot, allowing optimal use of the unique learning environment that is heritage. During reflection, students recall their feelings experienced during the visit, thereby closing the circle of the learning process. What is the best way for a museum educator to arrange a school visit? There is a whole arsenal of methods and didactic forms of work, which are mainly based on the educational experience of museums. Some of them are presented below (for excursion work, see section 6.2).

Game search expedition (quest) and interactive educational guide

Route maps and other forms of textual materials used for educational purposes, as a rule, are supplied with tasks. With their help, students are actively engaged in the work. This is convenient for teachers, because they know in advance what will be covered, and convenient for heritage institutions, because in this way they can serve a relatively large number of students. To make a good quest requires a separate skill. The secret lies in diversity: both questions and answers should have a very different form – preferably as visually as possible. The quest should always be tested in advance before offering it to students.

After a short briefing for the archives officer, I helped him divide the students into groups and lead each group to its starting position. As their teacher, I know children better than anyone. Arriving at the start, they immediately set to work – it was clear that the guys were used to this at school. They were very passionate and forgot about everything in the world. Team changes also went smoothly. The tasks really activated the work of schoolchildren, it was not a “sleep at the neighbor’s” level. Archivists did a great job! I was there to give a little help to groups that were at an impasse. They know that tomorrow at school we will continue this theme, and this contributes to their motivation today.

As for interactive educational guides, the British specialist in museum pedagogy Graham Talboys does not recommend using them if you do not master the art of compiling them to perfection. After all, you really need to think through and evaluate everything in advance, based on the perception from the visitor’s point of view and not forgetting all the practical nuances. The end product must be flawless. Maybe that’s why the interactive guide is the acme of a museum teacher: if you are good at it, then you have completely mastered your craft. Text accompanying material is not very popular with specialists in cultural heritage. As a rule, it is considered outdated and not very effective. Nevertheless, after excursions, this is the most common tool for working with schoolchildren. The fact is that museums do not always have such a luxury as a special employee or new media technologies, so most museum educators use textual materials.

Again I got a call from below, from the administrator: who admitted that teenagers run around the halls without supervision, stand on their heads, instead of doing their tasks? Not a single teacher is visible, and assignment sheets are lying in the trash can. Stop learning, they decided. I, as a museum educator, have to come and put things in order…

Practical work

Practical work, as a rule, pleases educators. It increases the involvement of students in the process, and hence the chances that the learned will remain in memory. The classic form, still popular among art museums, is workshop sessions, usually preceded by a guided tour of the museum. However, practical work can be very different, including in exhibition halls: from photographing, role-playing games and drawing to actions with models, computer games, etc. But this should not be just fun: students should understand what they are doing well. The work must be meaningful.

Immediately after the greeting, the teacher divided the class into seven groups. I, as the mother of one of the students, was also included in one of the groups. We started by cleaning copper utensils in an antique kitchen. When the bell rang, we moved to the old school, where a volunteer taught the children to write on the boards. So we discussed everything that children did a hundred years ago. It was especially funny when they washed diapers “stained” by babies. You notice that the children suddenly realize how much work there used to be. You don’t usually think about it, do you?

Expert methodology

Students delve into a particular topic. Each group has its own subtopic. Then the group switches to other students, each time remaining in the role of experts and organizing excursions to the cultural heritage site. This technique is also very well suited for walking (in particular, around the city).

Use of new media technologies

Cultural visit preparation and discussion materials are increasingly digital. Most schools use interactive whiteboards that show educational materials provided by museums, including images, videos, etc. Schoolchildren also work independently with digital materials on computers or tablets. For cultural institutions with a sufficient educational budget, this opens up new opportunities – from web quests and games to direct communication via Skype. And during the visit, new means of communication can be used, including as part of a wider program. Some archives offer programs using multitouch tables. And with the help of smartphones, students can make their own videos that will be useful during the discussion.

Immersion in special exhibitions for children

Children’s museums have been around for a long time. In the Netherlands, these are, for example, “Villa Zebra”, the Museum of the Tropics for Children (Junior), the Children’s Yard at the Open Air Museum, the “Dick Bruna House”, the Children’s Museum at the Jewish History Museum, etc. As a rule, their target group is children up to twelve years old who come with the class or with the family. However, the methods of these museums can also be used in secondary education, as the practice of the “miracle rooms” of the Municipal Museum of The Hague has shown. Recently, there are more and more expositions specially created for children. For example, the Little Orphanage at the Museum of Amsterdam, the Museum of Resistance for Children or the Mathieu and Rocher exhibition for preschoolers at the Amsterdam Shipping Museum. As a rule, all these expositions are built on the principle of understandability for school groups. Thus, at the disposal of the museum teacher is a much wider repertoire of methods and forms of work that make it possible to interest children.

Try, try and try again. Practice has taught me this. And not to sit and endlessly improve the content, in order to later understand that the children in this object see something completely different – not what I see. Or find out that at this place they are distracted by the installation, which is located around the corner. When you begin to understand exactly how they look, you immediately turn your program on its head, without getting bogged down in assumptions. And so in the end it is much easier to achieve the desired effect.

Success factors

What makes a visitor program successful? A combination of several factors. As in all cases with the viewing experience and impressions that an object of cultural heritage evokes, not everything depends on museum educators. And what they can influence comes down to three points:

1. Content – does it meet the goals, does it have significance?

2. Organization – timing, materials used and all other logistics.

3. Interaction with students and matching their level and interests. This list is useful when evaluating programs; all three points affect each other, and all three, without exception, must be evaluated positively in order for the program to be accepted.

5.4 Helpful hints

Very busy

Contact with schools is not immediately established. The teachers are very busy, and the museum project is just one of many items on their to-do list. You need to write them emails and call them. When teachers get to know you, you will notice that they respond faster.

Too expensive…

Many schools find the programs of museums and other heritage institutions quite expensive. This is not surprising given that your contact persons in schools have a very limited budget. Do not forget that the organization of financial matters in different schools may be different. If visits to cultural institutions are not included in the annual budget, the respective teacher must request permission and funding each time. Including transport, which is usually the largest item of expenditure.

Timetable

Especially at the secondary level, schools are bound hand and foot with timetables, so they can only arrive at a certain moment. It is very difficult to quickly fit a visit to the museum into the schedule, because it means skipping classes for other classes. Some schools have more flexible schedules or special project weeks where all cultural activities can be collected. Elementary school is also bound by the schedule, besides, it is important that children return to school on time, so that parents do not stand and wait for them at the entrance.

Preparing in the classroom

To the dismay of many museum educators, sometimes there is no preparatory lesson at all. And then you come across schoolchildren who do not know anything, and you were preparing to continue on the basis of the content of the introductory lesson … This will not unsettle a good employee of the heritage institution – he must be able to quickly and flexibly respond to changing circumstances.

Discipline

Museum educators often assume that school attendants will keep order, while they themselves will be able to focus on the content. It usually does. But, of course, there are also difficult groups, say, one out of ten. That is life. It is useful to agree in advance with the teachers or parents accompanying the group what you expect from them. At the same time, let’s understand that this is your common task, on which you will work together.

Rehearsals and correction of mistakes

Even nowadays it happens that a museum teacher has to make a program for schools by the opening day of an exhibition. As a rule, in this case the program is not tested, because the exhibition has just been completed. That is, it is impossible to test it. There are always things that you couldn’t foresee (there is no place to place the group, one of the display objects is missing). Or bad words that can be misunderstood, or a form of work that does not give the desired result. In the world of theater, premieres are a common thing, why shouldn’t they be in our sphere too?

Human factor

No matter how well you prepare (try, test), you cannot fully influence how the museum lesson will be perceived by schoolchildren. Among other things, it also depends on personalities, in particular, on school teachers and – if it is not you yourself – on the work of that employee of the heritage institution who meets and accompanies the class. One does it better than the other.

Priority or not?

In most museums, education has long been recognized as a core mission, and the work of museums is aligned accordingly. This gives scope for the activities of museum teachers. In other areas of heritage, this is more difficult. For example, in most archives educational activities are carried out in addition to the main tasks. In one archive it is welcomed, in another it is saved. And monuments of history and culture are not always able to accept large groups of schoolchildren. Institutions that find it difficult to bear the burden of physically visiting schoolchildren may well benefit from the opportunities to produce digital learning materials, as we see in the case of archives.

A report on trends in museum education states that adult visitors, both individually and in groups, have overtaken school visitors as the target audience for museum education activities. The focus of educational programs has become wider, and the museum educator is now also involved in the website, other digital media, events for local residents and is part of groups working on exhibitions. Most museums cannot maintain an entire educational department. Therefore, the museum teacher must understand everything at once. Is it real? Demand for generalists, jacks of all trades, may conflict with the need to specialize in a particular target group.