Summary

• Organize a tour that addresses on-going heritage conservation issues issues in the management of a fragile site open to the public;
• discover a heritage site by participating in restoration activities, drawing maps and interviewing visitors, staff, conservators, tourists and local residents.

Target group
Students age 14-16 from schools close to archaeological sites.

Background description

• Establish a relationship with the management of a suitable site in your region. The closer the site to your school the better, as travel costs can be prohibitively expensive. Consider arranging a sponsor to cover travel costs (or other costs) for the project;
• in partnership with site managers, define a course appropriate to your educational needs that accommodates the site, its physical situation, and expert availability. Define the student activities in partnership with site managers, according to the possibilities (and limits) offered by the site. Plan to include particular parts of the site that reveal conservation problems;
• determine class size. The number of students in any single activity session should be limited to 20, given the level of supervision required. However, more than one activity session could be undertaken within the same project plan;
• plan the time-line. Course length will depend largely on those involved and the availability of the experts. The course could either be run over several consecutive days, or as a series of regular site visits (i.e. once a week, or every two weeks). Ensure you allow adequate time for all your planned activities. In April 2002 organizers found that time was too short for all of the planned activities. Allow approximately one year for the entire project;
• provide teachers with basic information about the conservation of the site: immediate problems, preservation measures, artistic background, and historical information;
• arrange for site managers and conservators to have extra help with the class so that the students are always completely supervised during the practical sessions.

During the project
Study phase: Before beginning work at the site, students and teachers must spend some time learning about the site. In class they should address its historical and cultural significance, its development (and deterioration) over time, its principal stakeholders today, the conservation and other problems associated with it, and any on-going preservation activities at the site. At this stage students and teachers should also have a guided site visit.

Action phase: Under expert guidance, students participate in conservation activities at the site. They could take measurements, document the state of conservation of various site elements, participate in restoration activities, draw maps, interview visitors, staff, conservators, tourists, local residents and any other site stakeholders, among the many possibilities a given site may offer.

Follow-up

• Establish a regular heritage working day for regional schools;
• have each school adopt a particular site or monument, and get the students to offer guided tours;
• set up a regional inter-school network to encourage the exchange of information about heritage teaching in the classroom.

updated on: 27 January, 2010