Abstract
In Slovenia, teachers of the school subject visual arts (implemented at the primary level by primary school teachers and at secondary level by fine visual arts teachers) play a significant role in planning and implementing visual arts tasks with preservation concepts. With these activities, they can raise awareness of cultural heritage meaning, strengthening the nation’s cultural identity. Pupils should develop into active and responsible citizens who are able to understand heritage problems in general and express their sensitivity and respect for their cultural heritage and its preservation. The main purpose of this paper is to identify the teachers’ preconceptions about the preservation of architecture in the Slovenian countryside and the implementation of heritage preservation concepts in visual arts teaching. Altogether, 125 teachers from Slovenia participated in this study. The research revealed the teachers’ preconceptions regarding some problems in the Slovenian countryside, as well as sufficient awareness of the importance of the implementation in heritage preservation concepts in visual arts activities, according to contemporary professional guidelines. Teachers’ preconceptions reveal a lack of some basic knowledge of preservation concepts, which lead us to compare the results with the current guidelines. It can be concluded that greater emphasis should be placed on developing training programmes for teachers with specific preservation concepts and didactic materials for students in the field of preservation education with the aim of developing the students’ positive and responsible attitudes to those problems. More heritage preservation education content should be incorporated into pre- and in-service teachers’ education, and teachers should develop competences to implement these topics into their teaching.
Highlights
Organisations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Centre for the Study of the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and others raise the awareness of pupils of the importance of the care of cultural heritage through their programmes (Aslan & Ardemagni, 2006; Potočnik, 2018)
Research problem and research question The main purpose of the present paper is to identify the preconceptions of in-service teachers of visual arts education about the preservation of architecture in the Slovenian countryside and implementation of these issues in visual arts teaching
We focused on the following research questions: 1. Which preconceptions of in-service teachers about the preservation of architecture in the Slovenian countryside could lead to improvements in the inclusion of preservation education concepts in visual arts classes? 2
Summary
Organisations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Centre for the Study of the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and others raise the awareness of pupils of the importance of the care of cultural heritage through their programmes (Aslan & Ardemagni, 2006; Potočnik, 2018). To encourage pupils’ participation and involvement, a comprehensive heritage preservation education programme should be established, beginning with primary school pupils (ICOMOS, 1987). The American National Council for Preservation Education (1987) launched guidelines for the inclusion of content about the preservation of cultural heritage in primary and secondary schools. The Slovenian National Programme for Culture (2013) states that the contents on heritage preservation need to be incorporated into all levels of the education system. Some specific learning goals for the integration of the contents of preservation education were designed, in accordance with the national curriculum for visual arts education (Potočnik, 2018). In the national visual art curriculum (Kocjančič, 2011), particular attention is devoted to preservation concerns regarding cultural heritage, which considers three main aspects: architecture heritage, landscape heritage, and fine art heritage – mostly paintings and sculptures
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
