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.
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