Abstract
Heritage education has been viewed as an aspect associated to the building of local and national identities, but there has been little exploration of the way it relates to Global Citizenship Education. This chapter explores this relationship in theoretical terms, through documentary review and analysis from a socio-critical perspective. One of the initial conclusions is that heritage education is associated with art history and is the work of formal and informal education institutions. Another more in-depth conclusion is that there are relationships between these two types of education that share the common thread of identity-building and participation, which ties in with recognition of the changes caused to societies through globalisation. The chapter concludes with a series of questions asking whether it is possible to conceive a global heritage or identity.
TopGlobalization And Social Changes
Two decades ago, in a comparative study of citizenship education, Kerr (1999) commented that we are witnessing unprecedented global changes that are posing challenges for countries, societies and education systems, and for the way that citizenship education is understood and produced. Kerr’s list (1999, p. 9) mentions the following challenges:
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the rapid movement of people within and across national boundaries
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a growing recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities
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the collapse of political structures and the birth of new ones
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the changing role of women in society
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the impact of the global economy and changing work patterns
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the effect of a revolution in information and communication technologies
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an increasing global population, and
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the creation of new forms of community
Key Terms in this Chapter
Citizenship Education: Actions to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes to participate in social and democratic life. Always associate to state.
Global Citizenship Education: Process to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes to participate in social and democratic life with a global perspective.
Globalization: Process to to buil links and actions between different transnational spaces in different aspects, as social, cultural, economical, political, etc.
Empty Signifier: Term that means nothing in itself, but that serves as a focal point for a range of ideological foci, discourses and meanings that may be in competition with each other.
Social Participation: Take a part as citizen in social process to built a democracy or social justice in democratic countries.
International Organizations: Some kinds of organizations with strong influence in social, economical and political across the world: e.g. UNESCO, ONU, European Union.
Heritage Education: Actions to the teaching and learning processes and programmes that are based on, focused on or use cultural heritage.
Heritage: Refers to ancestors’ legacy -material or immaterial- to transferred to future generations.