New standards for education and training for preservation in Brazil

• In Event: Evaluación y calidad educativa. Exclusión social y estándares internacionales.

Abstract

The concept and perception of cultural heritage is evolving and being recoded throughout history. What once referred only to the material heritage of ancestors now encompasses the cultural practices and social values relevant to a group of people that interacts dynamically, and thus, builds its cultural heritage daily. This important evolution has resulted in the recognition that citizenship, identity, memory, and interactions between people and their territories provide the best basis for preservation policies fostering social-cultural inclusion and help our precarious historic centers management.

The harsh socioeconomic and political context in which our historical centers are immersed in Latin America does not always allow for the prioritization of education, culture, and preservation. In Brazil, people are still struggling to meet their basic survival needs, and governments show little willingness to reconceptualize the educational system to meet changing social demands.

New skills and standards are now recognized worldwide in academic and professional circles as fundamental to the formation of new citizen-professional fields and for this, many challenges need to be overcome. This article focuses on the need for training to promote cultural preservation in Brazil and addresses the issues presented above by (1) presenting an overview of the evolution of the concepts of cultural heritage, identity, heritage education, and cultural literacy, (2) identifying and critically analyzing the challenges that must be overcome for the qualification of future generations of preservation professionals, and (3) discussing new criteria on which the reconceptualization of current curricula and future training programs should be based.

Author

• Karla N Penna, Murdoch University