History learning using cultural heritage

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the possibility of learning History through cultural heritage. It begins with the question: does cultural heritage have an educational character? To begin to answer this question, we seek to recall a series of theoretical productions that call for the need to use cultural heritage in the classroom as a way of expanding the senses or the need to take students of any age group to visit museums (including exploring not only the characteristics of objects and their historicity but immersing themselves in the educational actions proposed by these institutions or those that resemble them, such as memorials, cultural centers, public archives, among others), or even the use of the methodology of Education Heritage as a way to awaken in the students the will to know the patrimonies that make up or that are part of their past or the group to which they belong and, with that, not only start to value them but also become their future defenders. In this paper, we defend the cultural heritage educational role, recognize the importance of the theme and the need for his presence in the History textbook, listing several reasons for his presence, as well as discussing the construction of an idea and conceptualization of Heritage by age group of students, pointing out ways to make this use effective in teaching History, and, finally, indicating a series of gains for the teaching-learning relationship from this use.