On Wednesday 25.10.2023, we organised a full-day workshop for more integration of cultural heritage in teaching primary school subjects in the premises of the Learning Laboratory in Škofja Loka. The lectures and practical demonstrations by representatives of the Slovenian Institute of Education, the Faculty of Education, the Slovenian Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, ZRC SAZU, the Centre for Vocational Education and the Ivan Grohar Primary School were attended by head teachers, teachers and counsellors from 14 primary schools from all over Slovenia.
In addition to a lot of good information and examples of the integration of cultural heritage in primary school lessons, the participants experienced and saw the story of the renovation and restoration of the Old Town Hall Rotunda in Škofja Loka, where the workshop took place. The focus of the workshop was mainly on built heritage and the professions and skills related to preserving our heritage.
The information that there are as many as 25 vocational qualifications that can be certified through the NQF system, such as dry-masonry, and that they can be promoted in primary schools to guide pupils towards vocations surprised our participants. Through a hands-on workshop for students on natural materials, their properties and uses, the most surprising insulator turned out to be air itself.
The most important conclusion of the workshop was that it is necessary to give students an experiential perspective of cultural heritage through all their senses, in addition to hands-on experience, and to raise their awareness and education to the point where they are able to recognise and appreciate all forms of our cultural heritage.
One of the ways of experientially learning about cultural heritage is through workshops for children, which are part of the non-formal education programme Renovation Schools for Children. In the second part of the workshop, we therefore presented a workshop for teachers, the School of Restoration for Children, which was prepared by experienced educators and conducted by restorer Saša Snoj. The Renovation School for Children workshops are an example of activity days with a new way of integrating cultural heritage content into the primary school curriculum.
The participants expressed their satisfaction that through the emerging teaching practice of the project Schools of Renewal for New Generations, which includes training, teaching preparation, textbooks and didactic aids, they will acquire the knowledge and tools to integrate cultural heritage in a quality and professional way in the subjects of primary school education.
Doc. Dr. Irena Hergan, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education
Children see and interpret the environment in more detail and in a more personal way than adults, so they should be given the opportunity to express themselves.
Dr Jasna Fakin Bajec, ZRC SAZU, Head of the Nova Gorica Research Station
Heritage theory is built on emotions, so it is important for children to create as much as possible.
Nataša Ülen, Slovenian Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage , School of Renovation for New Generations
We want to reach out to parents through pupils and contribute to a vision of a cultural landscape that respects our living heritage without pink and fluorescent green shades.