european heritage classes

Upload: carolina-rosa

Post on 06-Apr-2018

221 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    1/141

    Counci l of EuropeConsei l de I 'E urope + * k +

    * *

    )V Ix&L^yt < 3 u C < r < ^ ^ CoK/?cry/e^I

    EuropeanHeritage ClassesPUBDGIV061

    p r o c e e d i n g sCol loquyChateau de Ma i s o n s -La f f i t t e (France)7-9 October 1992

    Cultural heritage , N o. 34

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    2/141

    EuropeanHeritage Classesp r o c e e d i n g sColloquy organised by the Council of Europeand the French Ministry of National Education and Culture,in collaboration with the Caisse nationaledes monuments historiques et des sitesChateau de Maisons-Laffitte (France)7-9 October 1992

    Cultural heritage, No. 34

    Council of Europe Publishing, 1995

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    3/141

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    4/141

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    5/141

    Architectural awareness in European Cultural Heritage Classesin primary and secondary educat ion (As example: baroquearchitecture)Goniil ONEY 51"Art N o u veau " Exper ienceMichele LE M A R I N E L - C A M B I E R 57Heritage an d en v i r o n m en tM i k k o M A N S I K K A 63Enlarging the sphere of ac t iv i tyLasl6 A G O S T H A Z I 67

    Fourth session: setting up a European Heritage Class- Joint t ra in ing courses, t r a in ing o f i n t e r ven i n g parties ,

    Alain R I F F A U D 73Preparat ion w i t h th e pup i l s a t pr imary levelDerek RE ID 87

    - Preparation w i th pup il s a t secondary levelMaria Dolors D U R A N i de G R A U 9 1

    Fifth Session: partnerships, funding and objectivesMinistry

    Th e French experience: her i t age classes, w o r k s h o p s , an d n ewfo rms o f ac t i o nJe an- Mi c he l AGNUS 9 7

    Local Authorities- The C o u n c i l o f Europe 's S t a n d i n g C o n f e r e n c e o f Lo ca l a n d R e g i o n a l

    Author i t i e s o f EuropeJean S A L L E S 10 3

    - A t h r e e -w a y ex ch an g eJean-Jacques HOELI'AEI'E 107

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    6/141

    FoundationThe King Baud o u in FoundationMartine WI L L E 113

    Council of Europe- Partnerships, fund ing an d objectivesGian-Willi V O N E S C H 119Cultural organisers

    Heritage classes at the Grand-Hornu Eco -MuseumMarinette B R U W I E R 125Archaeology in the museum - Archaeology in the t o w nBarbara THEUNE-GROSSKOPF 133

    - The Association for the Cul tu ra l Heritage and its Pedagogy (APCP)Dany TESTAS-DESJARDIN 135- Cultural Heritage Classes in the Aqui taine Region

    Fre"de>ic B E R T H A U L T 137

    Closing session- The Development and Training Department of the French Ministry

    o f Education an d Culture: making artistic an d cultural heritagemore accessible to school childrenDaniel CHEVIGNY 141

    - ConclusionsFranchise J U R I O N D E W A H A 145

    - Recommendations 151

    AppendixList of participants 155

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    7/141

    INTRODUCTION

    European Heritage Classes const i tute a n e w a n d suc cess ful type of school exchange,based on themes related to the cultural heritage of the place w here the y w ill take place.They are proper classes, act ivit ies condu cted during school h ou rs, w hich consist of long-term global educational projects and involve a partnership between educat ion andculture.

    The classes derive from th e "classes du patrimoine" created in France in the early1980s, from an initiative taken by the Minis t ry of Culture in partnership wi th th eMinistry of Educat ion and from th e "Rhin sans frontieres" operation (April/M ay 1989).This was the first European Heritage Class officially organised as su c h . I t was anoperat ion w hic h interested the media and w as special, sym bolica lly stressing the for tiethanniversary of the Counc i l of Europe under th e patronage of its Secretary General.

    Since 1990, w ithin the Co un cil of Europe, a grou p of specialists has been entrustedwi th th e definit ion and implementat ion of the activity "European Heritage Classes" andhas met regularly since then.This Colloquy marked an important stage in the ir w ork :its aim was to i n fo rm and

    create awareness amongst political and administrative decision-makers and people inpositions of responsibility in the education al and c ultu ral fields, w i t h a view to takingstock of the present si tuat ion and studying future possibilit ies. Th is approach allow eda consideration on the most appropriate mean s for helpin g the r u n n i n g and theorganisation of this kind of classes in the future .

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    8/141

    OPENING SESSION

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    9/141

    Alain AUCLAIREDirector of the National Office of the Caisse Nationalsdes Monuments Historiques et des Sites

    I have great pleasure in welcoming you to this Colloquy on the European HeritageClasses, held in a Cha teau wh ich is o w n e d by the French Sta te and run by the NationalOffice of Histor ic Monuments.

    Fo r several years now, various ways of presenting her i tage to dif ferent groups ofpeople have been developed. This Chateau is used for man y events and a w ide varietyof activities. It is open to the public and w elcomes visitors. L astly, and here I cometo the subject of our colloquy, i t is a monumen t to which fo r over ten years teachersand their classes have come for her i tage workshops.

    The National Office o f Historic Monumen t s pioneered this kind of teaching activityin three monuments: Arc et Senans, Fontevraud and Villeneuve les Avignon, in theearly 1980s.Similar teaching act ivi ties w ere s ubseque ntly organised th roughout France by theState Education Service and then by local autho rities, th e latter through agreements w i t ht owns o f artistic and histor ic in terest (Villes dart et d'histoire).So, for more than te n years, teaching w ork has been one of the National Office ofHistoric M on ume nts ' fo remost concerns, and this has enabled us to acquire a fai r ly w ideexperience in this field.Nowadays , th e National Office of His to ric M on ume n t s ' w ork mainly involvesorganising heritage workshops. Our current goal is to enc ou rage people to contemplate,

    discover and learn about all aspects o f heritage. For m o n u m e n t s offer th e chance tolearn about all kinds o f th ings, such as history and archi tecture and they also foster l inksbetween people f rom different groups and nationalities.Some eight million foreign visitors (in addi t ion to French visitors) visit ou rmonumen t s every year and are often sensi t ive an d imaginat ive in their expectations.Responses o f them are crucial, since they t ranscend national i t ies . The m o m en tumcreated by the European Heritage Classes should enable children to discover space -physical as wel l as mental and intellectual space - w h i c h promotes communica t ion an dlearning, enc ouraging th em to discover th e past in o ther w ays as well .

    11

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    10/141

    Christian DUPAVILLONDirector of Heritage, French Ministry of National Education

    and Culture

    Minister, Secretary of State, Mr Chairman, Ladies and Ge ntlem en , allow me, in mycapacity as Director of Heritage at the Minis try of Cul tu r e , to welco m e you to thisColloquy on European Heritage Classes.

    I w o u l d like to t han k the Counc i l of Europe and y o u , Mr Cha i rm an , for taking thisinitiative at a t i m e w h e n a cul tural Europe is being buil t and heritage is taking itsr ightful place in th i s con s t ruc t ion , than ks to links be tw een co un tr ies .

    I w o u l d also like to thank Georges Lemo ine who very generously agreed to chairthis Colloquy, because as the Mayo r of Chartres he takes a keen in teres t in heritage andbecause his t o wn organises heritage classes.

    Both political an d cul tura l d imens ions to Europe are in the process o f being bui l tand it is vital to take practical steps in order to overcome hesi ta t ion and doubts . Thisis ano ther reason why heritage classes are extremely importan t.

    The most decisive factors fo r European heritage are legislation, skills an d f u n d i n g .Unfor tunately, far too ofte n, skills co me after legislation an d f und i ng . By skills, I meanthe skills of profess ionals working in the heritage and conservation field, but also thoseof the general public, including schools education an d tra in ing .

    I w ou ld like to see, in the years to come, tra in ing being given prior i ty in oursocieties.

    Legislation is often accused o f be ing too cumbersome w he n it exi s ts , and inadequa tew h e n it doesn't. It is often said tha t to res tore an d protect her i tage is f i rs t and foremos tabout resources. Persona lly, I t h i nk w h a t c o u n t s mo r e t h a n a n y t h i n g else i s awareness ,skills, an d knowledge. I thin k that her i tage classes play a key role in bu i ld in g u p skills,because t hey are an in t r o d uc t i o n to heritage.

    It is fairly surprising to see tha t heritage is not an integral part of t r a in ing in schoolsand i s no t widely used in educa t ion . I have often asked the head archi tects o f historicmon ume nts in France to open s i tes to school classes and to talk to ch ildren. Experimen tin this area have been conclusive.

    In this respect, European heritage classes show enormou s po ten t ia l . I f w e couldestablish a n e t w o r k of these classes through a s t r uc tu r ed an d , if possible,ins t i tut ional ised organisat ion, it w o u l d be a great s tep forward, n o t on ly in terms o fincreas ing awareness but also for safeguarding her i tage i tself .

    13

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    11/141

    I remain absolutely convinced that i t is not t h ro ug h m i l l i o n s of Dollars,Deutschmarks or Francs that w e w ill protect heritage. R ather it is through knowledge ,teaching as wel l as scientif ic and technical skills.Children have an importa nt role to play in c o m m u n i c a t i n g to the general public theproblems of protecting her i tage. Once children have been in trodu ced to the subject,their awareness ra ised, an d they have seen an d unders tood the problems presented bymaterials, they themselves become extraordinarily good at co mmu n i ca t i n g this to thosearound them.M y hope, therefore, is that ou r discuss ions here w i l l promote these classes as a keyelement in Greater Europe.I hope that by l i s tening to the w i d e variety o f exper iences o f her i tage classesorganised by skilled teachers, th e impor tance o f he r i t ag e , and o f pro tec t ing andsafeguarding al l that co n s t i tu t e s th e c o m m o n m e m o r y of our r e spec t ive co un t r i e s

    (cathedrals, castles, skills) w i l l become clear an d, fo r t h i s , I c o u n t on the yo u n g peo plea t tend ing the classes.

    14

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    12/141

    Jos Maria B A L L E S T E RHead of the Cultural Heritage Divis ion, Counc i l of Europe

    On behalf of the Secretary General of the Cou ncil of Europe, Ca therine L alumiere,and the organisation as a whole , I w ould l ike to thank th e organisers o f this Colloquyon European Heritage Classes. In particular, I w ou ld like to t h a nk th e French Minis t ryfo r Education and Culture and the French National Office of Historic Monument s andSites, who are host ing this event today in a f ine example of French cultural heri tage,the Chateau of Maisons-Laff i t te , w h i c h is itself used for heritage classes.

    It i s now three years since President Francois Mit ter rand h onou re d us w i t h hispresence in Strasbourg at one of the first experiments in European Heritage Classes -"Rhine w ithou t Front iers", organised for the 4 0th anniversary of the C ou nc i l of Europe.

    I should point out that heritage classes are a French in i t ia t ive which, in t ime, haveacquired a European dimensio n, a st imu lus for further ac t ion thro ugh ou t Europe .This is borne out by the enormous number o f communica t i ons and the varie ty ofthemes appearing in the programme fo r this colloquy, in w h i c h , for the first t ime,heritage classes will be debated at the level of Greater Europe.Having received the political support o f M inis te rs responsible for cu l tu ra l her i tage ,

    who met under th e auspices of the Counc i l of Europe in Malta in Janua ry of this year,allow me to re mind you, before you start , of the issues invo lved and of the t imelinessof your debate.The process of European const ruc tion and the events w hich have occurred in thecountries of Central and Eastern Europe present us, as Europeans, w i t h a historicresponsibility, that of build in g in this geographic, political and c ultu ral space a w idecommuni ty of S tates, w hi ch is already called G reater Euro pe.But th is const ruc t ion, as we know and see day after day, wil l not be wi thoutupheavals or risks. Varying pace of change, lack of solidari ty, intern al upheavals inw h a t w e call Western Europe, th e urgent s i tua t ion in w h a t w e call Central an d EasternEurope, th e inclinat ion, alw ays dangerous, tow ards nat iona lism and intolerance - as wellas violence - make i t necessary for us to try to act coh esively. No w , w e kno w that bothpolitical and social cohesion, as the recent report on the fu tu re direc t ion of cul tural co -operat ion which you have been given said, are only possible in this society w hic h setsout to be democratic and multi-cultural, if mentali t ies and behav iour are developed, iethrough culture and educa t ion , through developing ident i t ies as we l l as the sense of

    belonging to a comm on c iv i li sa t ion.If there is a lesson to be drawn from the disturbanc es presently affect ing Europe,beyond th e obvious poli t ical, economic and social interpreta t ions, it is th e nece ss i ty ofdeveloping a European dimension o f educa t ion , o f making youn g people more acute lyaware - as the Director of Heritage said in his speech - of the values of European

    15

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    13/141

    construction at both th e level of the Twelve and at a pan-European level which nowcorresponds to the Counc i l of Europe. This dyn am ic process of European classes m u s tbe consolidated an d encouraged, w hile giving i t a pan-European impetu s w or thy o f th ishistoric moment .

    It i s equal ly importa nt to br ing these classes i n to li ne w i th o the r ex i s t i ng i n i t i a t i ves ,such as the European C ul tura l Ro utes, European Her i tage Day, European Schools Daysand other school exchange programmes.

    European heritage classes are remarkable fo r the i r capaci ty to develop l inks betweeneducat ional organisat ions an d schemes fo r cul tural co-operat ion in d i f f e r en t f ields andthe fact tha t they are based on her i tage. I cannot s t r ess enough the t r emendous t each ingpotential of heri tage, a tool for discovering iden t i ty and rediscover ing col lect ivememory.

    If w e analyse the value of th is cul tural ident i ty, w e s ee tha t it is the most visible andth e most rapidly observed aspect, w h i c h shapes o u r l iving en vi ron men t every day, an dwh i ch i s of ten the basis fo r ou r col lec t ive memory an d r eferences w h i c h are pecul iarto each c o m m u n i t y and each area. Clearly her i tage is the best e m b o d i m e n t of all thesevalues and references . I shal l finish by p o i n t i n g out tha t i f her i tage is to be a key toolin the search fo r ident i ty , it is impor tan t fo r th i s search to be educa t ional .

    For a common cu l tu ra l i den t i ty , as w e unders tand i t a t the C o u n c i l o f Europe , meanso f course an awareness of common experience, and a shared heritage and past. But italso m e a n s th e pol i t ical w i l l to plan for the f u t u r e .

    16

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    14/141

    Georges LEMOINEDeputy Mayor of Chartres, M e m b e r of the Parliamentary Assemblyof the Counc i l of Europe

    First o f all, ou r colleague M r Jean-Louis L u x e n , w h o w a s t o have chaired thiscolloquy, is un for tun a te ly unable to attend and sends h is apologies. Thus , th e h onou rand pleasure of being wi th you this morning falls to me.

    Let me begin by saying that th e C ou nc i l o f Europe is to be commended fo r hav ingtaken a number o f join t ini tia tives w ith France w hic h, in the years to come, wil l makeit possible to s t rengthen the cul tura l links be tween our coun t r ies .As the Director for Heritage pointed o ut , these init ia t ives are more th an simply aquestion of mon ey. I think that i t is important to say stra ight away th at the Coun cil of

    Europe has a budget of only 680 million Francs, ie twice the budget of the t own ofChartres. Therefore, w e should no t look on the Counc i l of Europe as an i n s t i t u tion w i ththe f inancial resources wi th w hich to support a large nu mbe r of projects. On the o therhand, i t in the realm of ideas and ini t ia t ives, i t has an ext raordinary inf luence . I t h inktha t Mr Ballester made this point e xcellently a moment ago.

    As Mayor o f a t own which possesses, I canno t help thin kin g, if not the mostbeautiful, at least one of the most beaut i ful cathedrals in the world, an d w h i c h is luckyenough to be tw inned wi th Ravenna in Italy, and Speyer am Rhe in in Germany (threetown s w h ich UNESCO has listed as w orld heritage sites), I try to focus on the Europeandimension of heritage.

    I never miss an opportunity to point ou t that of the two great bishops w ho havedistinguished th e history of Chartres, one was an Italian and the o the r an Engl i shman.Chartres cathedral has a European vocat ion. I t was in Chartres that Bernard deClairvaux called on the pious to undertake a crusade and in Speyer am R h e i n severalyears later, and well before us, he first established t w i n n i n g be tween the two towns .A Coun t o f Chartres w as posted to Ravenn a. I t is clear that the histo ry of our to w n isalso the history of Europe. M oreover, th rough t w i n n i n g arrangements, we take care toensure tha t youn g people from dif ferent European towns who come to Chartres are ableto participate in heritage classes.

    These classes have, above all, a departmental vocat ion . W e have transformed emptyrooms in a secondary school into classrooms and a meet ing place. Groups o f pupilscome for a week at a t ime an d take part in activities in the cathedral, th e m u se u m andthe Internat ional Centre for Sta ined Glass. In 48-hour segments, they are taught thebasics of stained glass making, af ter having looked around the cathedral, then af ter avisit to the museum (itself the former Episcopal palace), we try to give them an ideaof w h a t life w as like in the area around th e cathed ral. This type o f teaching is of theutmost importance at the m om e n t - a cont r ibut ion on this topic is planned - at a t imew h e n attempts are being made to develop an integrat ion policy fo r children fromdifferent cultures.

    17

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    15/141

    Children wh ose cul ture is Islamic need a different kind o f presentation and examplesin order to understand what a cathedral is.

    If w e h a d suff ic ient resources, I would l ike to send pupils to see the Giralda inSeville, then take them to Marrakesh and explain that both are the wor k of the samearchitect. I woul d also like to be able to show them Cordoba and let them s ee h o w o n et o w n can have a magni f i cen t mosque as wel l as one of the most beau t i fu l cathedrals.The archi tecture of m o n u m e n t s is a means of c o m m u n i c a t i n g w h i c h makes possible anapproach w h i c h is sensi t ive to the idea o f European heritage and to a sense of collectiveresponsibil i ty for protecting i t .

    I t h i n k tha t the most f r u i t f u l period fo r European iden t i ty was the M iddl e Ages.Undoubtedly , i t was dur i n g these t w o o r t h r ee cen tu r i e s tha t European t h o u g h t w asreally established. I t was t h e n t ha t th e Greek an d R o m a n her i t age w as f u l l y i n t eg r a t ed .Bishop Fulber t , w h o founded wha t came to be called the Char t r c s School , whoseinte l lec tual i n f luence endu r ed fo r more than tw o c e n t u r i e s , r e i n i ro d u ced Greekphilosophers in to theo logy. Those f ami li a r w i th th e ca thed r a l o f Char t res w i l l k n o w tha tit has a portal dedicated to th e seven l iberal arts, an idea borrowed f rom Greek andRoman her i tage. F or example, there w a s a B ishop o f Chart res , w h o s e correspondencew as re cen t ly publi shed in the Un i t ed Slates, w h o s e disciples used to call him Socrates.This i s one example, and a part icular ly impor t an t o n e f o r u s , o f wha t t he t own o fChar tres represented, above a ll a certa in idea of c u ltu re in the year 1000, a greatsynthesis of European t hough t and , undoub ted l y , a n o t h e r concep t i on o f t he wor l d .

    This i s (he message t ha t must be c o m m u n i c a t e d to c h i l d r e n . 1 have ano the rinterpre ta t ion o f w h a t arc called th e great p i lgr images . Ch ar t res was o n th e pilgrimr ou t e o f S a n t i a g o o f Compostela a n d . as w e k n ow , th e C o u n c i l o f Europe h as t a k e n th ei n i t i a t ive o f h igh l igh t i ng th e great pilgrim routes . Both w e and the M a y o r o f Speyert hough t t h a t o n each o f th e large si tes we could put a s t a t ue o f t h e pilgrim S a in t Jameso f Compostela. a di f fe r en t o n e o n each si te, bu t each o n e represen t ing the same man.Con temporary scu lptor s could also be commiss ioned to work on a u n i f y i n g t h eme,f o l l o w i n g t h e progress of Saint James of Compostela across Europe.

    I w o u l d l ike to dr aw a t ten t ion to an o th e r i n te rp re ta t ion of the Crusades , on e w h i c hdoes n o t concen t r a t e exclus ively o n t h e i r war - l i ke n a t u r e or on the conques t o fJerusalem, bu t w h i c h also sees t h e m as th e discovery o f a n o t h e r c i v i l i s a t i on , and as allt h a t th e discovery of the M i d d l e East c o n t r i b u t e d 10 th e Weste r n Renai ssance. Thi s isth e spiri t in w h i c h w e w i s h to u n d e r t a k e h i s t o r i c a l her i t age classes.

    Bu t classes must al so focus o n t h e moder n wo r ld an d t ench y o u n g people to protec ther i t age - n o t to mindlessly carve "I love Francoisc" o n t o a fragile s to n e . The dayw h e n all of them realise tha t i t w o u l d be bet te r to send Fran?oisc a postcard, w e w i l lhave s tar ted to protect heri tage. I t is also i m p o r t a n t to learn h o w t o manage access.A t t h e mome n t , we a r c cau g h t up in a way of t h i n k i n g t h a t cou l d be fa ta l fo r heri tage.For. th e more we ex to l th e benef i t s o f d i s co ve r i n g her i t age , th e more w e pu t i t at r i sk.Ever yone knows t ha t th e c a t h e d r a l o f Notre Dam e in Paris has 7 mil l ion vis i to r s a year.C h a n r c s s t i l l o n l y has 2 m i l l i o n , bu t w e have almost r eached s a t u r a t i on p o i n t , because

    18

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    16/141

    th e more th e general public f locks to m o n u m e n t s , th e more di f f i cu l t it becomes toprotect them.

    My last point is one w it h w h i c h I know the Director of Heritage agrees - we sharethe determination to curb the use of cars a ro u n d g rea t mo n u men t s . I th ink tha t weshould explain to the generations of children to w h o m it w ill fall to protect this heritagethat a great m o n u m e n t m u s t be visited on foot and that the visit itself is the reward forthis.

    Of course, I can n o t resist s u m m i n g up by remind ing you that, tradit ionally, peoplewalked to Chartres f rom Paris. I of ten say to victims of our civilisation who w a n t tosee many th ings and who are in a great hurry that if it was possible, in a s ingle day, tospend a quarter of an h o u r in f ron t of the Lo uvres , look ing at the pyramid designed byI.M. Pei, and half an h o u r in the great courtyard at Versailles, t h e n t w e n t y - f i ve m i n u te slooking at the stained glass w i n d o w s in Chartres cathedral , and then end the day w i t ha last quick look at Chambord, before sunset , you w o u ld h ave the impression of h av i n gseen m a n y things. This is the sorry state of affai rs in w h i c h we find ourselves today.The more we open m o n u m e n t s to tour operators, the more people wi l l t h i n k t h a t thebest tou r is the one packed w i t h the most vis i ts . I am f i rmly opposed to a concept ionof cu l t u re wh i ch is essentially a k i n d of "cu l tu ra l fast food". Let those who are in ahurry go and see reproductions of m o n u m e n t s ,but m o n u m e n t s t h e m s e lv e s are a rewardand visi t ing them has to be earned. I th in k tha t th is has to be explained to ch i ld ren , assoon as possible, because we need them to explain it to the i r paren t s . Than k you .

    Allow me to f in i sh th is of f ic ial opening by t a lk ing abou t someone w ho m some ofyou knew well. I would l ike to end w i t h his name. Jean-Pierre Moisseaux, who diedin 1991 and who , th rough h i s work fo r the French Nat ional Of f i ce o f HistoricM o n u m e n t s and Si tes devoted his al l - consu ming pass ion and remarkable courage toheritage classes and t ra in ing . Some of you wi l l remember the co l loquy on y o u n gpeople and the heritage of m o n u m e n t s , w h i c h he organised for UNESCO in 1989. Toall those who did not k n o w h i m , I would l ike to say tha t he wo u ld h ave mad e anextraordinary con tr ibut ion and I w ou ld l ike to pay t r ibute to h is m emo ry.

    19

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    17/141

    FIRST SESSION: W H A T ARE E U R O P E A N H E R I T A G E CLASSES?

    21

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    18/141

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    19/141

    aims are to introduce children to cul ture and to inspire a love of it , as wel l as to trainEuropean citizens to ident i fy themselves w ith this ne w ly es tablished Europe. Teachingmethods are also obvious everyw here. When th e in i t ial work is done in the classroom,i t i s re inforced - and this is the decis ive point - dur in g f ield w ork w h ic h shou ld, in tu rn ,be consolidated back in the classroom. H o w d o children perceive a m o n u m e n t , ei th e rin the i r own o r in ano ther European coun try? They a re bound to be en thus ias t ic ,enraptured an d dazzled, rather amazed. Children a re s truck by the beauty, size o rstrangeness of the place. This is not an in tel lectual response, but an en t i re ly in s t inc t ivean d emotional one. Ch ildren on ly develop a feel for a place if the i r imagina t ion hasbeen stirred, inspired by w ha t they have discovered.

    Although the approach wi l l vary from o n e c o u n t r y to a n o t h e r , it a lways a ims tofoster an inte l lec tual and emo tion al aw areness . Nevertheless , in European classes,German teachers wi l l be able to convey t h e i r k n o w l e d g e to y o u n g I tal ian s t u d e n t s , assoon as these you ng people s ta rt com mu ni ca t in g w i t h each o ther , as long as thesemeetings stimu late discussion. Emotional shock often prompts communica t ion - apossibility that young people sho uld discover an d share, thro ugh her i ta ge s tudies ,i n ternat ional exchanges an d casual encoun te rs o r organised meetings. F o r heri tage isan aspect o f cul tural w o r k w h i c h is ins t an t ly associated w i t h self-expression an dc o m m u n i c a t i o n . Our aim here is to develop these facul t ie s , in order to bring aboutEuropean rapprochement by i nvo lv ing y o u n g people in t h i s process and by h e l p i n g themto c o m m u n i c a t e w i t h each o ther , at a t ime w he n borde rs a re v a n i s h i n g .

    24

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    20/141

    SEC OND SESSION: ED UC ATIONAL ASPECTS OFEUROPEAN HERITAGE CLASSES

    25

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    21/141

    Interdisciplinarity and interculturalism:important factors in the fight against failure at schoolFranz-Karl WEISS

    Foreword: assessing th e subject matterMain part:A. Causes of failure at school:

    I. The traditional school system ,II. The teacher

    B. Remedies offered by the European heri tage classes:I. Structure:

    1. Nature of the subject2 . Selection and deve lopment of the subject2.1 "Natural" setting2.2 Global approach3.1 R h y t h m of w o rk3.2 Reports and marking?3.3 Arousing curiosity4.1 Cross-linkages4.2 Emotional relaxation5. Special role ofin te rcul tura l ism5 .1 Absorbing Europe's cul tural r iches5.2 The golden mean betw een different European ident i t ie s5.3 Culture and European togetherness

    II. The teacher's new role:1.1 Opening-up1.2 C on f ide nc e1.3 New edu cat ional rela t ionship betw een teacher and pupils1.4 Impact on tradition al schoo l lessons2 . Awareness of the exceptional nature of the task

    27

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    22/141

    C. Example:Reci t ing of Horace's "Oh, spring of Bandus ia" at an archaeological site - the"Fontaine du Chene" at Sa in t -Romain (C6te-d'Or)

    28

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    23/141

    Interdisciplinarity and interculturalism:important factors in the f ight agains t f a i lu re at school

    Assessing the subject matterAt f irs t s ight , one m ight say that the talk I am about to give covers three dif f ere nt

    aspects of our European heritage classes:a. interdisciplinarity, ie the l inking of all - or at least several - disciplines around asingle theme,b. intercultural ism, ie the jo in t awareness o f Europeans that they belong to a group -or even family - of people w h o s e different cul tu res have common cu l tu ra l roots,c. the f ight against failure at school, ie an important social and humani tar ian goal ofthe European heritage classes.

    During our 1991 sessions, our in-depth discussions produced some good ideas aboutthe f irs t two aspects, and I do not t h i nk very m u c h can be added. Wh ere does thatleave us? If I have r ight ly understood my "duty" as regards o ur m eet in g today, i t is toexplain an d illustrate briefly how interdisciplinari ty an d in t e rcu l t u ra l ism bene f i t th eyoung people w ho participate i n our European heri tage classes. In o the r words : wha tleads us to believe tha t these tw o aspects o f European h eri tage classes he lp pupils toimprove their school performance?

    On this point I am st il l hes i tant , for I must admi t that our task appears to be a boldone: w e are set t ing out to prove th at co-operat ion betw een several disciplines inconveying elements o f more than one cu l tu re shou ld and can help to br ing happinessto a large number of school children.We shall have to face u p to objections on the l ines of the fol lowing:Is it likely that a ch i ld ' s per formance in discipline X , w h i c h th e ch i ld has no t ye tmastered, will benef i t from a more thorough s tudy o f disc ipl ine Y o r Z?Is the s imultaneous and direct contact w i t h several European c ultur es not l ikely toproduce a cultural shock in a mediocre pupil?If a you ng person is already w orn out by the no rmal school cu r r i cu l um, how do youimagine your interdisciplinari ty and in tercultural i sm w il l prompt h im/her to pursuethe tradit ional school disciplines w i t h greater effect iveness?And:are you not be w as t ing your prec ious t ime and tha t of you r pupils on act ivi t ies an dschool ou t ings tha t en ta il n o co mmitme nt?

    29

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    24/141

    There i s no w ay I can go into all details of the subject matter here, so I shall merelyat tempt to highlight some important points:A. Principal causes of fa i lure at school, especially those associated w i t h

    either the traditional school system,either the teacher.B. Besides causes, it wi l l be necessary to describe some clear-cut remedies offered byour European heritage classes.C. Last ly, I i n tend to i l lu s t ra te my po i n t o f view by an example.

    A. Principal causes o f failure at schoolPreliminary remark: i t is impossible to mention here all the di f f e ren t causes o ffailure at school , fo r there are some which , a l though ex t remely impor tan t o r evencrucial, are beyond the scope o f t eacher i n te rven t ion - for example, those associatedwi th the organisat ion o f people's private lives, the improper use o f televis ion an d o the rmedia , etc.Similarly, th e problem o f disabled people - M r R e n a t o dalla Costa's subject - lies

    ou t s ide th e scope o f th i s talk. What interests us here are t h e i n te l l ec tua l d i f f i cu l t i e s andweaknesses of pu pi ls a t our "o rdinary" schools . I t is here t h a t we may easi ly jump tohasty, an d hence u n f o u n d e d , conclus ions .

    After a l l , wh a t i s in tel l igence? Th e d i v i d i n g l i n e s b e t w e e n d i f f e ren t degrees a n dd i f f e r e n t types o f in tel l igence arc - as you k n o w - i l l -def ined .

    What value docs th e inte l l igence q u o t i en t (IQ) have? N o n e o r prac t i ca l ly n o n e .

    In t radi t ional school classes, we prefer to measure language abi l i ty and reason ingabi l i ty , w h i le many o ther f acu l t i es receive only l imi ted a t t e n t i o n . Besides l i ngu i s t i c a n dmath ema t i ca l inte l l igence, h o w e v e r , w e sho uld, according to th e exper t s , bear i n mi n dforms o f i n te l l igence tha t express themselves in - for example - t h e arts , physicalact iv i t i es , var ious c rea t ive pursu i t s .. .

    The complexi ty of i n te l l igence is too great to be properly descr ibed here . I havetouched o n t h i s ques t ion only in order to sh o w h o w ra sh some o f o u r j u d g emen t s a r cif w e pronounce t h e m w i t h o u t at least some d i s t r u s t o f t r ad i t i o n a l e v a l ua t i on cr i t e r i a .Or do we never pride ourse lves o n h av i n g d e t e rmi n ed th e " in t e l l igence" o r " ta len t s" o fo u r pu p i l s wh en w e have added u p t h e marks w i t h i n and fo r d i f f e ren t disciplines?

    An d w h a t is even worse , w e ourselves w e r e forced - and in t u r n of t en c o n t i n u e tofo rce ou r p upi ls - i n t o a w o r k i n g regime w h i c h a l i en a t e s u s f ro m ourselves an d o u re n v i r o n m e n t . This se l f -des t ruc t ion t ha t has been a t w ork in ou r socie ty f o r 650 years

    30

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    25/141

    already, has led to- and derives from - our present-day school ing system. W ha t adeadly vicious circle! What hotchpotch of senseless educational material! Whatfragmentation into t iny s tudy uni ts! How man y divergent educational ideologies!Often, the Muses - who once illuminated the Holy of Holies in our schools - nowjust about survive on the periphery of disciplines that claim to be serious or useful .Often, teachers no longer manage to close the gap between theory and practice,between knowledge and its application in everyday life.As a plethora of technology f inds i t s way in to o ur schools, creativi ty, enthusiasmand versatile concentrat ion - even soundness and solidarity - imperceptibly slip away.In a word: as many w eaknesses in our school system - as man y unnecessary causes

    of failure at school.The defects inherent in the school system are compounded by the defec ts tha t can

    develop in the teacher:- As the resul t of a particular success or failure on the part of a pupil, th e teachermay decide once and for all tha t the pupil in qu est ion is br i ll iant or useless , for i tis un for tun ately eas ier to stereotype pupils than to take accoun t of each one's s trong

    points...There are teachers who do not f ind i t so easy to break away f rom the i r ow n logicalreasoning and way o f t h i n k in g and expose themselves to those of their pupils.The bustle, as wel l th e a w f u l tedium of day-to-day school life can lead to pro fo un ddiscouragement that s t if les many educational in i t ia t ives . The resul t - in spite ofhimself - the pupil is frus tra ted. Wh ile mos t teachers have their good sides, w h i c hshould no t be overlooked, these are some of the u n fo r tu n a t e t h ings that can happenbecause of the teacher. To make such an ana lys is is no t eno ugh how ever . We needto ask ourselves some questions, starting w i t h a few general ones:

    - w hy no t pay more a t ten t ion , try to adapt more to the real world of the pupils an dthe subject matter?- w h y no t swi tch as soon as possible to more act ive, more sense-or iented methods o fteaching?- w o u l d i t not be better, instead of grabbing at eve rythin g, absorbing ind iscr imin atelyand t rying to tes t , con s t ruc t and des t roy everyw here and by any mean s , w i tho ut

    regard for the consequences, to relearn h ow to act ivate s igh t, hea r ing all senses, inorder to rediscover beauty, t ruth and the life o f objects and of al l l iv ing t h i ngs ?

    31

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    26/141

    B. These general questions bring us to the principal question:Ho w then can the European heritage classes, th rough in terdisciplinari ty an d

    intercul tural ism, contr ibute successful ly to the f ight against fa i lure at school?I. The first part of the answer relates to thei r s t ructure, and I shall deliberately startwi th an obvious point:

    The fol low ing remarks apply on ly if the participants in European heritage classesare prepared to commit themselves seriously to the realisation of the f u l l poten t i a loffered by the structure of these classes.1.1 The European her i tage class s tar ts w i t h a c lear-cu t , t a ngible , impor tan t , s ign i f i can tsubject.1.2 The subject i tself is selected, and al l par t icipants are closely in vo lved in developin git . Thus, account is taken of the age, interests an d u n d e r s t a n d i n g abi l i ty of the y o u n gpeople. A n y t h i n g ready-made, ar t i f icial an d esoteric is avoided. From th e outse t ,therefore, th e working a tmosphere w i l l be e x c i t i n g yet relaxed.2.1 The subject is not isolated from it s natural - ie historical, poli tical, geographic,philoso phical , l i terary, rel igious etc - se t t i ng .2.2 The par t ic ipants ende avour to famil iar i se themselves w i t h th e subjec t th rough aglobal approach - t ha t is to say. t h rough th e s i m u l t a n e o u s an d m a x i m u m possible u seof all kinds o f energy (sensory , e mot iona l , i n te l l ec tua l ) .3.1 Conf iden t in th e p o w e r o f a t t r a c t i on of the subject , w h i c h , s in c e i t s "bir th", hascharmed a ll par t i c ipants in th e j o i n t project, th e t eacher falls in w i t h th e s p o n t a n e o u s ,i n d i v i d u a l r h y t h m o f the pupi ls . "Hasten s low ly" Au gu st u s sa id .3.2 As for reports and marks: "Hands off!" No s t ra i t j acke t ! Otherwise, the l iberal andspontaneous character o f heal thy i n te rd i sc ip l ina r i ty w o u l d be comple te ly lost.3.3 The rew ard for th e par t i c ipan t s ' en thus i a sm - need i t be repeated? - cons i s t s in thefac t tha t all phases in th e w o r k of European her i tage classes arc enjoyable. This goesalso fo r th e m u l t i t u d e of o p p o r i u n i t i e s to apply a t onc e - o r very soon a f t e rw a rds w h a thas been learned theoret ical ly . H o weve r , i t shou l d n o t be t h o u g h t t ha t th i s e n joyme n tder ives o n l y f rom th e t rans i t ion f rom theory to pract i ce . 1 recall several occas ions w h e nva r i o u s pup i l s , af ter in tens ive e xc a v a t i on , f o u n d a mys t e r i ou s object . The f i n d was th estart of a g en u in e spir i tual craving. They began asking se r ious ques t ions tha t theyw o u l d n o t have asked fo l l owing a theore t ical e x p l a n a t i o n . T h e i n tc rd i sc ip l ina r i ty an dth e i n i c rcu l tu ra l i sm o f o u r classes f i lled t hese y o u n g i n q u i s i t i v e persons w i t h e n o r m o u scon f i dence in themselves and in us , a l though very of t en w e w e r e n o bet te r i n f o rm e dt han th e pupils. Everyone fell th e same way , an d t h e barr iers b e tween t eacher s an dpupi ls fell, q u i t e na tu ra l ly .

    32

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    27/141

    4.1 The complexity of the diffe ren t disciplines and the involvement o f several culturesmake fo r comprehension of the f iner aspects of the various subjects. The consciousnessof having advanced and made progress in accordance wi th th e characteristic rules o f thiso r tha t discipline recedes into th e background. Suddenly, w e begin to comprehend andaccept the importance and funct ion o f a discipline w hic h - in the t radit ional system -had perhaps not fo un d favo ur in our eyes because the "conn ect ing pipes", the l inks withother disciplines an d w i t h life around it, were clogged.4 .2 A paradoxical consequence: w hen s tudying - often unconsc ious ly - in a broader,multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural context, things w hich in isolation had no tpreviously roused interest in us , we found ourselves in an odd s i tua t ion - a l t houghworking hard, w e were n o t being overw orked; ins tead, w e felt ref reshed and a t ease.Emotional relaxation had se t in , thanks to w h i c h w e discovered a new approach to adiscipline, o r a neglected subject opened up before us . And w ha t ' s more , th i s emot ionalrelaxation affected o ur behaviour tow ards th e other par t ic ipant s in the European heritageclasses. So, let there be no doubt about i t : such "a tmospher ic" improvemen ts in ourEuropean heritage classes guarantee that , sooner o r later, there w i l l be other k inds o fsuccess at school.5. One w ord more about in tercultural i sm: despite the co mpet i t io n of certain pedlars oftourism, and despite a certain tourism mafia, whokeep copying our ideas while th inkingonly of their o w n profits, w e shall take care not to regard the in tercul tural i sm of theEuropean heritage classes as a decorat ive t r imming o r a c o n v e n i e n t panacea. If othersexploit this feature of our classes, i t 's no busine ss of ours. For us, inte rcu ltural ism isan essential hallmark. We place great t rust in i ts educat io nal value, w ith o u t losing sightof certain risks associated w i t h practising it .5.1 If the participants in our classes are keen, if they know w h a t th e y are doing, if theyrespect one another and i f they are con sc ien tious , the d iverse cu l tu res tha t w e reveal too u r pupils (and discover fo r ourselves) wi l l open up i nnumerable w o r t h w h i l e f ie ld s o fs tudy for those w h o a re interested. Th e weal th o f European c u l t u r e - and cu l t u re s - w i l lbe spread out before an amazed and delighted audien ce. Absorbing these spiritualtreasures will be a matter of the spiritual an d moral values of the par t ic ipant s w h oembark on the at tempt. Those w h o a re ass iduous wi l l gain e n o r m o u s l y . Those w h o d ono t respond will simply fade even fur ther behind th e wall o f prejudice and c h a u v i n i s m .5.2 Interculturalism does not mean "no co mmitm en t to an yth ing" . Rather than tha t ,i t means a vast new f ield of endeavour for our European heri tage classes. Keeping toth e golden mean between different European ident i t ies - that wil l be the newcommitment of our educat ional Sisyphuses.5 .3 Informat ion about the di f fe ren t European heri tages an d respect fo r these commontreasures will lead to a new depth of knowledge, but also to a sense of sharedcit izenship, ho spital i ty, co mpanion ship - in short , togethernes s.5 . 4 I canno t say that th e creat ion of such a spirit of European solidari ty wi l l resultdirectly in better marks at school. In fact , I find the idea r id iculous , fo r there are far

    33

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    28/141

    superior w a ys o f succeeding at school. Such successes wi l l -1 am happy to say - neverbe properly reflected by the traditional system of ' school marks.B.II. S o much fo r structure! I shall n o w explain briefly how the teacher , in adapting toa European heritage class, experiences a change of role and a t t i tude .1.1 Teaching in a European heritage class requi res a m u c h broader overall view thanthe teaching o f a specialised subject. By coming down to the pupi l s ' level, the teacherwil l , together wi th them, "look over the fence" of h is discipline and - s trangely enough -wi l l discover n o t only many astonish ing th ings bu t also, by t u r n i n g t owards h is pupi ls ,certain apt i tudes wh ich he d id no t expect.1.2 Would it be surprising, t he re fore , to see him abandon certa in preconcept ions andembark on the path o f u n d e r s t a n d i n g an d t r u s t ?1.3 Tha t w o u l d undoubtedly improve th e c o m m u n i c a t i o n b e t w e e n teachers an d pupi ls .1.4 Late r , o n r e tu r n i n g to the t r ad i t i o n a l c lassroom, th e t eacher w i l l perhaps be moreable to appreciate w h a t h is pupi ls are saying an d t h i n k i n g - and vice versa, I hope.1.5 I am conf iden t tha t , (hanks to such changes , the l ike l ihood o f general an dind iv idual successes wi l l g ro w.2 . Thus , th e business of European heri tage classes is n o t c r a m m i n g th e brain w i t h factsand measur ing perfo rmance . The classes arc a concept and an i n s t i t u t i o n w h e r e th eteacher communicates cont inuously w i t h h is pupils, more as a guide o r even a partnera lmos t a f r i end - t h a n as a special is t .

    He w i l l always t ry to be on h i s pupi ls ' w a v e le ng t h and to a n s w e r t h e i r diverseques t ions and he w i l l qua l i fy h is a n s w e r . The w o r k i n g a tmospher e w i l l be one ofconcentrat ion, but also of emotional re laxa t ion . All participants in a European her i tageclass kn o w th a t it is s o me th i n g tha t wi l l never happen a ga in , ne i the r as regardsinterdiscipl inar i ly nor as regards the chance to be in su ch close c on t a c t w i t h severalcu l tu res . If the part ic ipants a re f u l l y a w a r e o f th e w o n d e r f u l l y e xc e p t i ona l s i t u a t i on theyare in , tha t awa rene ss wi l l mot iva te t h em from the very s ta r t of the European her i t ageclass, and the memor ies , together w i t h th e new kn o wled g e acqu i r ed , w i l l spu r t h em o n ,in t h e i r t r ad i t ional school d isc ipline s, to new ef fo r t s , - and f resh approaches .C. Last ly, here i s an example - a typical episode t h a t o ccu r r ed d u r i n g my last Europeanher i tage class.

    T h e occas ion w as ih c r e c i t i n g o f Horace ' s ode "Ofons Bandnsiae" ("Oh, spring o fB andus i a" ) . The class, c ons i s t i ng o f abou t 30 pupi ls . Fr ench an d G e r m a n , had gathereda t th e "Fontaine du CliGne" ( "The o ak sp r in g " ), w h i ch is loca ted two k i lomet res aboveS a i n t - R e m a i n (COtc-d'Or). Th e general class t h eme w as "Ges tures - an i n t e rna t i ona llanguage".

    34

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    29/141

    1. Tw o o f my pupils - at our German secon dary scho ol, the empha sis is on L at in andGreek - had learned Horace's ode by heart (back home in Rottweil).2. Fur thermore, th e German and French pupils had learned, at school, a n u m b e r o f

    .French and German songs w h i c h they were s inging to each other at the "Fontaine duChSne". As w e all knew in beforehand, these folk songs were about water, springs andstreams - rather like the Lat in ode.3. By the "Fontaine du Chene" are three Gallo-Roman stelae w hic h reputed ly depicthealing deities. Beyond the stelae is an immense wheat field, w ell fertilised w ithchemicals. - The w ate r emerg ing from th e ground below the stelae f lows in to a large,shallow con crete basin. The oak associated w i t h the "oak spring" is now here to beseen.4 . Over th e "spring o f Bandus ia" , on the other hand, there towered a huge oak tree,w h i c h provided shade for the bulls and the sheep exhaus ted by the summer hea t .According to the Roman poet, the spring w as to be the scene, on the next day, of ruralfestivities, where th e f ines t wines would be brought from th e cellars and the f inestyoung goat would be sacrif iced. An d there w o u l d be s inging. And one o f the songsw o u l d be that very ode "Ofons Bandusiae", w h i c h w as to immo rtal ise Horace's historicspring.5 . Perhaps you can imag ine the cul tural densi ty of the exper ience . W e w e r e n o longerengaged in separate academic disciplines, but in someth ing all-embracing; tangible, self-evident , s t r iking - an interplay of languages (Lat in/French/German), periods(Roman/Gallo-Roman/Modern), disciplines (mythology/re l ig ion/ l i te ra ture / folktradition/history/music/art/cottage industr ies/agriculture/ecology/economics/Europeanpolitics). Truth as seen thro ugh the eyes of l iterature rubbed sho ulders w ith the present-day on-the-spot reality o f cu ltivated soil. It was o ne of those mo men t s w hen eve ry th ingcomes together (heritages/activit ies/enhanced receptivity) and everyone co-operates(literary explanation s/recitals o f L at in poetry an d French an d German songs /examina t ionof the fauna and flora in and a round the w ater- f il led basin/photography/discussio n/ s tudyof the archaeo logical monumen t s / communica t i on ) . The global approach bro ugh t out thepart played by man, who from classical t imes to the present, in Gaul, in France,everywhere in Europe, has cul t iva ted , t ransformed an d quite often ravaged the naturalheritage so essential for his survival. Also, w e began to u n d e r s t a n d the benef i ts an dproblems of human progress.6. M any occasional, casual observat ions made by me after our European heri tage classat Saint -Ro main poin t to a posi t ive cha nge in the beh avio ur of mo st part icipan ts asregards tradit ional academic disciplines. That is w h a t prompts me to say t h a t w i t h o urEuropean heritage class w e fough t w i t h success against fa i lure a t school .

    35

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    30/141

    Combating the exclusion of disabled, disadvantaged and problem childrenRenato D A L L A COSTA

    I should like to propose a few areas of reflection for the work we wil l be doingtogether and for the participation project un der stu dy, which will give us the opportuni tyto provide a better service to the community, particularly for disadvantaged andmarginalised persons.

    Combating social, civil and cultural exclusion is highly commendable, and suchendeavours shou ld ultimate ly invo lve society as a w ho le. Increased an d more broadlybased participation would bring even greater meaning to our act ion.

    M ajor educational, trainin g and cultural agencies (the family, schools, sportinggroups, cultural circles, parish councils), the mass media, various local clubs andassociations, voluntary bodies, public agencies and i ns t i tu t ions , m u s t un i te in their actionto offset segregatory atti tudes, to enco urage in dividu als to take a mutua l interest in oneanother, and to form a solid and meaningful sense of co m m un i ty .

    It is only through widespread recognition of the wo r th of all ind ividuals - includingthose w h o a re disadvantaged - and of the contr ibution that each individual shou ld andcan make to communi ty life and society, and on ly through th e concerted act ion of allgroups involved will w e able to obtain th e results w e all hope for , and towards whichw e co nt inue to w ork w i th grea t de termination and expectancy.

    It is generally agreed that a society, rich wi th the co ntr ibu tion of all i ts members,is founded on discovery and acknowledgement of the h u man digni ty of each individual ,regardless of his or her situation , physical, intellectual and psychological he alth, self-sufficiency, integration or adaptation.

    Only when w e actually manage to accept these values w ith in th e fabric of oursociety, and not merely talk about th em , shall w e be able to take sat isfact ion in k n o w i n gthat we are capable of assimilating everyone.

    These are the crucial issues, along wi th th e overall meaning of life, against w hichour societies will be required to measure their degree of civilisation. This should be ourfirst concern, and know how urge nt i t is to make a com mitme nt in this regard, in orderto enhance our "quality of life" in a t rue and las t ing fas hion .With you r permission, I should like to make another observation before contin uin g.

    I believe that above and beyond the concern to promote h um an dign i ty, somethingshould also be done to create a cu lture favourable to the family. The pr imacy of thefamily must be restored in its capacity to nur ture th e proper and harmon iousdevelopment of the personality. The family is the basic un i t of society: it is w h e r e aperson is born, grows up, develops and matures . Human an d social developmentdepends f irst and foremost on the family and the relat ionships formed wi th i n i t.

    37

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    31/141

    Exclusion will be best combated by defending and promoting th e fam ily, even at a legaland political level, in order to safeguard its fundamental values.Even th e best conceived and most relevant in tervention cannot replace a family's

    love, even though o ur con tr ibut ion and tha t of many other agencies is indispensable inhelping all individu als char t a course thro ugh th eir everyday l ife.In o ur reflection o n h o w t o overcome marg ina l i sa t ion , we mus t pause to cons iderthe problem of our t o w n s an d cities an d w hat they represen t . Tow ns an d ci t ies , in their

    s tructures and the minim al oppor tun i t i e s they o f fe r fo r c o m m u n i t y l iv ing an dcommunica t i on can themselves be at the heart o f hand icaps and margina l i sa t ion . I I isincreas ingly di f f icul t to c o m m u n i c a t e , an d t h i s s t an d s i n the way o f (he i n t eg ra t i o n o fall members o f society, especially those w h o a r e d i sadvan taged , such as thehan d i capped , ch i ld r en , o ld persons, an d young people w i t h problems.

    Cities are designed fo r those w h o a re working and on the move, an d less to fill theneed to congrega te, com mun ica te and unders tan d one ano ther . The s t r uc t u r e of theurban fabric at present - especially in the suburbs o f th e larger metropol i ses - n o rm al lyl imits i ts i n hab i t an t s ' l iving an d re la t iona l oppor tun i t i e s .

    I believe it is reveal ing tha t i n ou r c i t i e s and new t o w n p l a n n i n g schemes , the on l ymodel o f consumer used is t h a t o f a hea l thy , middle-aged person in good physicalshape, bombarded by adver t i s i ng and so l ic i ted by today ' s hedon is t consumer society;i ts reference is to him alone, ignor ing a ll o the r sectors o f the po pula t i o n n o t co n fo rm in gto th i s model. On th e con tra ry, th e i n d i v i d u a l s ta rge ted should be th e less phys ica l lyable, older people, c h i ld r e n , an d y o u n g people w h o desperately need to in t e rac t an dc o m m u n i c a t e .

    T h i n k o f th e devasta t ing effec ts o n a young person who is not f i rmly anchored int radi t ion, o r w ell versed in the vagaries of the c i t y w h e r e he l ives , or of new o u t l y i n gdis tr ict s , w hi ch a rc dysfunc t ional in the ir o w n w a y , an d h i gh l y im pe r so n a l .W e m u s t n o t forget tha t respond ing to such needs w i l l benef i t the e n t i r e p o p u l a t i o n ,fo r i t w i l l reduce marginal isa t ion and extend and so l id i fy r e l a t i on s h ip s between peopleo f d i f fe ren t age groups, physical co n d i t i o n s an d social s t r a t a .Is i t not our task to " re tu rn" these c i t i e s w i t h all they have to o f f e r to t h e i r

    i n h ab i t an t s , an d to the o th e r i n d i v i d u a l s w i t h w h o m w e a rc in contac t t h r o u g h EuropeanHeri tage Classes?

    I t i s no t o n l y a m at t e r o f m ak i n g people a w a r e o f how h i s t o r y , an , a r c h i t e c t u r e ,t r a d i t i on s , rel igion an d cu l tu r e in genera l have c on t r ibu t e d i n th e pas t , but of en ab l i n gpeople o n c e again to "take f u l l possession" o f th e places in w h i c h t h e y l ive. A c i ty t h a tis better k n o w n an d liked is a less hos t i l e place to l ive in , a n d o n e w h o s e th e i n h a b i t a n t sfeel a sense o f be long ing an d i den t i ty .

    38

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    32/141

    This is the merit of ou r project, and as su ch it has conside rable education al valueand power to prevent suffer ing at both th e indiv idual and societal levels.In speaking of the European Heritage Class project, w e canno t over-emphasise th efact t h a t . t h e aspects which foster this policy o f openness, mutua l respect andappreciation of all peoples lead to a spirit of solidarity towards th e least advan taged, andare conducive to a more humane an d integrated community life.

    'When discussing such classes, w e shou ld also si tuate the problem in the co ntext inw h i c h w e live and w ork. I t is for this reason that I have emphasised on m an y occasionsth e need for a change in mentali t ies, leading to the development of a new moral andcollective consciousness wherein the model wo uld be the i nd iv idua l and the c o m m u n i t yof individuals capable not only to preventative help and assistance to its members inneed, bu t also o f respecting th e space ind ividu als need fo r i ndependen t grow th , and thedevelopment of the full potential of each individual fo r the i r ow n benefit and tha t ofsociety as a whole.

    European Heritage Classes are unques t ionab ly a posit ive experience of t r emendouseducational, formative, social an d prevent ive va lue . W e ac t ive ly urge tha t they becomeeven more widespread and available to all, an d tha t wha t they propose and achievethrough long and pat ient effort and worldwide co-operat ion should be of benefi t to all .Our experience shows tha t social re in tegrat ion, so vital to all disadvan taged peoples, ispossible. . We have the praiseworthy experiences carried out in certa in part icularlydisadvantaged areas of France , w hich a llow ed to en l igh t th e possibilit ies of the y o u n gpeople involved, and those concerning blind people allowing them to visit big culturalspaces such as museums. W e have learned that fo r resocialisation and occupat ionalrehabilitation, w e m u s t respect th e differences and specificities o f each individual andeach young person; to some w e give more cul tural ly-or iented i t ineraries, and to others,curricula centring more on manual skills.

    If w e d o n o t proceed in th is w a y , we are in danger of becoming slaves to thesystem, satisfying certain political ambition s an d, un ha ppily, margin alisin g thos eindividuals w ho , on the con trary, need to be supported, regain self-confiden ce, and f inda place in society suited to their specific needs.

    This has been o ur experience. W e have unders tood th rough w o r k in the f ield anddirect con tac t w i th young people from disadvantaged backgroun ds, that not al l peopleface the same set of problems.

    Each case has i ts own solut ion tha t mus t be found and s tud ied .

    W e came to unders tand from practical experience t ha t dive rs i ty , limi t a t ion s an dpersonal values are mutua l ly enr ich in g , mak ing life in soc ie ty dynamic an d produc t ive .A completely sel f-suff icient people, a communi ty made u p exclus ive ly o f y o u n g peopletwen ty years o ld, intellectual an d athletic over-ac hievers , w i t h no chi ldren to raise, noo ld people to assist, no sick people to nurse, disabled people to support or

    39

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    33/141

    underpr iv ileged you th, w ould w i thou t a doubt be a more impoverished an d less h u m a n esociety.

    W e m u s t see the t r anscendence o f social, cu l tu ra l and practical pr ivations as arelational experience. S u c h th ings can be learned in the European Heri tage Classes,which fea ture no t only cultural, historical, artistic, recreational and religious heritagetha t all individuals express an d recognise in themselves , i n o ther s and in personaltestimon y presented in the field, bu t also the vast, extremely rich personal heri tage tha tw e each carry w i t h i n ourselves, even those among u s w h o have problems an d greaterdiff icul ty in d iscovering the mean ing of one's exis tence, presence and role in society.

    Our concern is to c o n t i n u e such prac t ica l exper im en ts , bu t also to en sure tha t theyspread to our c i ti e s , con urba t ion s an d sm all t o w n s as w e l l , in order t ha t preven t i o n an dre in tegra t ion work can be better suppor ted , and tha t our soc ie ty can emerge enr ichedin human te rms and become a place where a l l i nd iv iduals , can express who t h e y are,their anxiet ies and worr ies , thei r hopes and aspi ra t ions .

    W e doubtless have a long road to travel ye t , bu t we w i l l succeed i f we m an ag e toharmon i se o u r values an d objectives, and to a t t a i n he igh tened co l l abo ra t i o n be tw een o u ro w n o rg an i s a t i o n s and the various o ther bodies m e n t i o n e d above .

    40

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    34/141

    Heritage, environment an d education:the European dimension

    Daniel D E M E U L E N A E R E

    W h e n a new concept emerges in the f ield of educa t ion , as in the case o f EuropeanHeritage Classes, we need to devise a teaching model enabl ing us to developappropriate learning environments .

    This model wil l be grounded in related educational practice and w i l l be re in fo rcedby the first f ield experiments , a ll guided by a t ru ly innova t ive fac tor -i.e th e goals an dimplications of this type of educa t ive ac t ion .Redef in ing approaches, explor ing the field of related educational practice, andident i fying key factors based on in i t ial experience in the f ield - such w i l l be the theme

    of this paper w h i c h sets out to provide some pointers to the co n s t ruc t i o n of a teachingmodel specific to European Heri tage Classes.Le t us begin w i t h the approaches: in tegrat ing an d g ua ran tee in g the divers i ty o fregional l ifestyles an d cul tures , as the f rui t spr ing ing for th from roots in a c o m m o nculture, is the ch allenge to the development of a European ide n ti ty, and i t i s thischallenge that European Heritage Classes seek to take up.This cha l lenge can be summed up as fo l lows: to fos te r the chi ld ' s desire to be in

    contact wi th :others o f h i s own age group bu t l iving in unfami l i a r e n v i r o n m e n t s ( w h i c h w i ll beexperienced "here an d n o w " in the fore ign env i ronment )other individuals older than he bu t l iving in a s i mi la r e n v i r o n m e n t ( w h i c h w i ll beexperienced as a "here and the n" , in search of cu l tu ra l t races of the past) .It is an educational challenge fo r w h i c h th e most releva nt pedagogical approachesand strategies m u s t be iden t i f i ed . I sha l l end eavo ur to do so on the bas is o f experiencean d ideas deriving from the f ield of envi ronmenta l edu ca t ion , plus the exper ience o f tw o

    visits to a Franco -Belgian Euro pean Heritage Class of 10 to 12 -year-olds, in t u r n atVillers-Ia-Ville ( roughly 40 kilometres south of Brussels) and Sa in t -Miche l en Thierache(in the dipartement o f Aisne).

    It i s no coincidence that this double European Heri tage Class ou t i ng took place inBelgium on the site of the Cistercian Abbey of Villers-la-Ville. I t w as from here tha tthe programme of heritage classes was l aun ched five years ago on the in i t i a t ive of theKing Baudouin Fo unda t ion , and the programme has s ince been enr ich ed w i t h t w o n e wsites.

    4 1

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    35/141

    While this site w as chosen for its wealth of historical, architectural and naturalheri tage, i t was also chosen for the experience of the teaching team from th e "Natureet Loisirs" association which w as already held school camps there.

    This pedagogical experience acqui red wi th in the context o f envi ronmental educat ion ,w h i c h began in the Seventies, fits perfectly into a heritage-related approach to thenatural an d man-made envi ronment . This approach of fer s a dua l outlook:

    f irst , education for the e n v i r o n m e n t , as a biophysical an d cul tu ral heritagenecessary to life and the qual i ty of l ife;second , educa t ion t h r o u g h th e e n v i r o n m e n t , a s a fac tor fo r personal, social an dcu l tu ra l development .I w o u l d describe such a du al ou t look as "self-eco-developmeni" , by which I meanth e acknowledgement of sustainable development both at the personal and

    environmental levels.The fo l l ow ing a r e t he t h r ee educa t i ona l mechan i sms most often used, ci ted andadvocated by those i nvo lved i n t he f i e ld o f en v i r on men ta l educ a t i on :

    - act ive metho ds (in ihe form of games, problem- so lving, project w ork, etc) . In th i srespect, remember that a method is described as act ive w h e n th e pup i l progressesby h i s ow n means and d i scovers for h ims el f . Therefore , t h i s is more t h an jus t aw a y o f keeping c h i ldren movin g!

    - an oth er basic approach is w ork in smal l groups in the r e l evan t field, regarded as ane n v i r o n m e n t to explore , inves t igate an d ana l yse . Here, th e impor t ance of thed i men s i o n o f re la t ionsh ips a n d c o m m u n i c a t i o n is revealed.

    - finally, a pedagogical approach tha t a ims to be both global an d ana ly t ica l , based o nfunda me n t a l concepts promot ing sys temic u n d e r s t an d i n g . Thi s en t a i ls g iv i ngpriori ty to unde r s t a nd ing and the search fo r m e a n i n g , based o n a few t h emes t h a twi l l be s tud ied t horoughly by ex plor in g the r e l a t i o n sh i ps between fac tor s ins tead offad ing i n to an encyc l oped i c accumul a t i on o f mean ing l es s da t a .W i t h i n the f r a m e w o r k o f ed u ca t i o n a l act ion car r i ed out in th e form o f a project o r

    a t h eme, th e succession o f the f o l l ow i ng t h r ee stages corresponds to research f indingsin co gni t ive psychology co n ce rn i n g l ea rn ing s tra tegics:

    f i r s t , a motor-sensory approach w i t h an e m o t i o n a l d imens i on : t he d i scover y ,a w a r e n e s s , an d explora t ion singe of an e n v i r o n m e n t , t a k i n g i n t o acco u n t values an dques t i o n s tha t may arise;- t h e n , an i nves t iga t ive and conceptua l approach: a " s c i e n t i f i c " research stage, w i t h

    u t i l i s a t i o n / co n s t r u c t i o n of concepts , inves t iga t ive m etho d s , e tc ;

    4 2

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    36/141

    - finally, a creative approach: a final phase of synthesis to convey and/or of act ionto be under taken.The design and creation of a first European Heritage Class tr ip enabled us toemphasize upon a f ew key factors for the success of such an under t ak ing:

    - the existence of a reception and residential cen tre wi th specialised staff and adequateeducational tools developed by a multidisciplinary team;a project developed from a training course fo r teachers in partnership w i t h theeducational team of the reception centre. This is an indispensable phase ofinvolvement and adaptation, i f we wish to avoid mere consumption of a cu l tu r a lproduct;

    - the s t ruc tur ing o f activi t ies around un i fy ing themes (such as bread, water, themeasurement of t ime, or memory);th e ongo ing decompartmental isat ion o f national groups-classes through areorganisat ion into inte rna tion al groups.The above are a few l ines o f t hough t w h i c h , I hope, wil l make i t possible toundertake model building in the field of th is promising educ at iona l approach, w h i c hcombines cul tural roots wi th self-eco-development on a European scale.

    4 3

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    37/141

    THIRD SESSION: TH E C U L T U R A L H ER I T A G E:AN IDEAL EDUCATION TOOL

    45

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    38/141

    Archaeological heritageSerge G R A PPI N

    I would like to talk to you about a s i t e which my team and I have run for the lasttwen ty years. It is in B u r g u n d y and has a remarkable feature, that o f a h igh cliff wi thunderground caves runn ing th rough i t, wh i ch are just visible at tree level on the righthand side. These caves have been inhabited since Palaeolithic t imes (100,000 yearsB.C.), but I am going to talk primarily about th e people from th e Danube w ho occupiedthis site around 4100 B.C. a n d w h o left man y traces. A map gives a clearerarchaeological overview, s ince Burgundy l ies at the point where two great culturalcurrents meet , the one - Danubian - is marked in red, and the o the r - Mediterranean -in black.

    This site was subsequently occupied by a number of protohistoric farmers, in theBronze and Iron Ages and by Celtic and Gallo-Roman refugees . The Celts, o f course,"made" Europe before us, in their ow n w ay. This is jus t a remind er of their spreadingin Europe. This li t tle Gallo-Roman t reasure t rove sho w s that the caves were later usedas a hiding place du ring the Germanic invasions. The n, in the 19th ce n tu ry, a s t rangemixture o f people, half peasants half knig hts , settled on the site w h i c h had not yetbecome a castle a n d w a s still a refuge, a t rans i t ional s i te betwee n th e ruled w h o livedin th e caves and the rulers w ho w ere la ter to build a castle a ki lomet re aw ay from th ecaves. There is a s t rat igraphy 4 .5 metres high w h i c h corresponds to the fou r teenoccupations w hich occurred betw een 4100 B.C. to the year 1000.

    Nothing remains of the new site, called the old castle, w h i c h is opposite the circle,because dur ing th e Revolut ion its s tones w ere used to build and re-build th e village, bu tarchaeological work has revealed extreme ly inte res ting traces dated back to before th e10th cen tury. This is a glass M erovin gian goblet f ound in a sarcophagus. Theexcavation site has also developed in the last t w e n t y years, wel coming a large n u m b e rof y o u n g people from all over the world, w h i c h has enabled it to develop amethod ology for restoring arch aeo logical he ritage and bui l t her i tage, w hich hassubsequently been used in European classes.

    From th e 11th cen tury th e village grew a roun d th e castle and a R o m a n priory. Thisvillage has no outstanding features, except for i ts picturesqu e s i te and the tw en ty-f iveyears w hich volunteers and professionals have devoted to r econs t ruct ing its history. Ourcentre w as restored by y o u n g people w ho bough t th e house w i t h m o n e y raised fromgrape picking over about ten years. W e built a second wing , u s ing any availablematerials . The centre no w has good fac ili t ies and can accom mo date se ven ty pupils .Each year it run s abou t fifteen classes, of w h i c h t w o o r th ree are European Classes.Teachers have t rain ing con cept in how to organise a class in archaeological heri tage.Children are eligible to participate in a class on the excavation site from the age of 9-10. Our first - sensory - approach is fundamenta l . The ch i ldren have to be the onesto ask quest ions and t ry to f ind their ow n answ ers. C hildren are capable o f seeing

    47

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    39/141

    immediately that a sarcophagus is a tomb. On the other hand, w e c an tell them that,in Greek, sarcophagus means consumer of flesh. This means tha t we can use the samesarcophagus to teach a variety of things, ie w e can u se each question as a peg on w h i c hto hang more info rmation . Next, they act ua lly ente r a cave. I imagine tha tpsychoanalysts could tell us a great deal about th e perception of space in a cave,especially where it is explained that animals or men lived there 100,000 years ago.Co m in g out o f a cave is a li ttle bit like a second bir th . Even pu pils w h o were a bitrow dy immediately become qu iet . They feel as i f they are in a s l ightly host i leenvironment and that they had better pa y attention.

    Then there is the problem o f c o m m u n i c a t i n g by gestures. F o r example, w e s e eGerman pupils explain in g tha t an imals lived in the caves abo u t 10,000 years B.C. Or,w e ge t them to act out scenes of n eo l i th i c man reaping cereal crops w i t h a sickle. Theylearn about objects, f ragments o f pot te ry an d pieces o f bone. They visi t the s i f t i n gplatform to learn how to evaluate objects , by t o u c h or even t h r o u g h so un d . I t ispossible to learn to d i s t i ngu i s h by car the or ig in o f a f r a gm e n t , fo r example a w e l lbaked Medieval f ragment does n o t have the same resonance as a h i s to r i c o rprotohis tor ic f ragment . Also, archaeology is a d i s c ip l i n e in w h i c h yo u have to learnh o w t o w o r k w i t h o t h e r people, and no t tread o n t h i n g s o r move t h e m. This means thatboth sens i t iv i ty and a cer tain degree of socialisation are requi red . Last ly , importantdiscoveries a re made, such as the one made by a pupil w h o discovered a burial placed a t i n g from th e Early M i d d l e Ages, o r a n o t h e r o n e w h o u n co ve red a t u r q u o i se objecta 14th century s ta tue of the Virg in , w i t h i ts head miss ing, bu t w h i c h i s now exhib i tedin a m u s e u m . Imagine h o w a ch i ld feels h a v i n g f o u n d a 1 4 t h c e n t u r y s t a tue of theVirgin w h i c h i s now in a m u seu m labelled and marked w i t h his or h e r n a m e . I t wasalso made clear that i t had been found by a heri tage class. Last ly , in te r -d i sc ipl inarym e tho d s arc useful: m ath em a t i c s can be used in her i tage classes, an d a r c h i t e c t u r e o rarchaeology can be used to expla in problems o f scale an d l oc a t i ng objects w i t h safe tyglasses.

    Pupils also have to u n d e r s t an d tha t her i tage i s no t o n l y about spec tacula r f inds. Itmay cons i s t of the remains o f burn t grains f o u n d in th e ea r th , fo r i n s t an ce . A fine2mm-mcsh s ieve has enabled us to collect f i sh scales. J u s t as i m p o r t an t as t r a i n i ng th eeye is t r a in ing the m i n d , i e how to unde r s t a nd th e objects f o u n d . For i n s tance , i t wasno t possible to immedia te ly clean t he sculp ture w h i c h I m e n t i o n e d ear l ier o f a 14 thcen tu ry Vi r g i n , w h i c h made i t hard to d i s t i ngu i s h . In par t icu la r , w e co uld n o t see t h a tth e ins ide of her coat had a fleurs de ly s pa t t e rn . It is a q u e s t i o n o f f o l l ow i ng at ech n i qu e . W e may n o t a l w a y s be able to u n d e r s t a n d t h e object s t r a igh t a w a y , bu t w ek n o w tha t we a re responsible fo r t h e unc ov e r i ng o f t r aces . Th is mea ns t ha t th e objectm u s t be respected, washed w h e n possible, classi f ied a n d , above all, very precisei n f o rm a t i on m us t be given to th e special i s ts who a rc to s tudy i t . W i t h n bone , fo rexample, we can k n o w more very qu ickly : bones r epresen t 5 0 % o f th e objectsdiscovered. W e can s tar t to ident i fy them us in g an atlas w h i c h w e have devised,compr i s ing twe n ty - f i v e species o f w i ld a n d domest i c a n ima l s , whi c h t e l l s u s w h e r e t h ebone c a m e from in less t h a n a m i n u t e .

    48

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    40/141

    The recon st i tut ion of pot tery is also fascinat ing. We take the pieces to be iden t if iedand reconstituted to a restoration laboratory fifteen kilometres from o ur site. Using thismethod, we were able to reconstitute a small vase from the late Bronze Age typical ofa large region extending over France, Germany an d Sw itzerland. Ano ther techniqueallows pupils to reconst i tute themselves bronze objects, us i ng th e lost w ax process.This is a delicate operation but pupils who arrived wi th no knowledge of the BronzeAge have learned about European civilisation through this meth od . To explain topupils the problems of elevation, w h e n w alls have been ruin ed to wi th i n a metre of theground, we give them a scale model to work w i t h . The computer reconst i tu t ion of abuilding close to Saint-Romain like th e abbey of C lu n y is very in te res t ing and IBMhave done extens ive w ork on this. Altho ugh on ly th e founda t ions rema in , w e were ableto recreate it s splendour.

    In order to trace th e stones o f ru ined bu i ld ings , w e take th e pupils to investigate inthe village. By loo king at a ped ime n t or a fireplace, ston es w h i c h were reused af ter thedemolition, can be ident if ied. I think that it is impor t an t to t each them h o w to react tounseen s i tuations an d discoveries, and how to salvage objects. Archaeology is not justfor professional archaeologists. Fo r instanc e, a w ine grow er has bui lt up his ow npersonal l i t t le museum in the course of w o r k i n g h is vineyard - and he ta lks about it ineveryday, easily accessible terms.

    In order to process and use all this data, scient i f ic m e t h ods su c h as chronology an ddendrochronology, ie th e s t u dy of the r ings w h i c h you can see in a cross section o f atree trunk, are required. The pupils write excavat ion reports and may use slides todescribe w hat they have seen. They do a presenta t ion in f ron t of thei r pa ren t s , w h ichshows once more th at children have a talent for communicat ion and raising theawareness of people arou nd th em. They also make f ilms, and th is process is veryvaluable in helping them to reflect upon an d s t ruc tu re thei r knowledge . They ga in anexperience w hic h migh t enable the m, la ter on, to part ic ipate in excava t ions or inrestoration work and, above all, to unders tand the importan ce of a shared Europeanheritage.

    4 9

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    41/141

    Architectural awareness in European Cultural HeritageClasses in primary and secondary education(As example: baroque architecture)

    Goni i l ONEYIn classes w h i c h aim to present European C ultura l Heritage thr ou gh architecturalworks in Central Europe, th e British Isles, Scandinavia , the Balkans and in theMediterranean basin, it is necessary to dwell n o t only on th e common Europeancharacter of the works bu t equally important to poin t out the dif ferences which impar tvariety and r ichness to the architectural s tyle and hence to the common culture.I believe i t is in our interests and our du t y to make European youth feel, at thethreshold o f European un ity, that these variations ref lect a colou rfu l h is tory and lead toa fulfilling cultural experience.Art movemen t s wh ich have swep t th rough Europe in di f fe ren t centur ies wereinevitably inf luenc ed by the local character of regional arc hitec ture, th u s res ult ing in

    endless more or less subtle. All this diversi ty have made our c om mo n cultu ral heri tageso mu ch the r icher. Alongside e xist ing local cu stom s and styles, sectarian and rel igiousdif ferences such as Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam have also played a s ign i f i can trole in the development of this diversity.

    I w o u l d like to take up as a vivid example, th e baroque-rococo art w h i c h i n f luencednot only architecture bu t also the whole cultural and art is t ic life of Europe dur ing the17th-18th centuries. The baroque style w h i c h produced its earl iest architectural worksat the end of the 16th cen tury and w as pursued in the 17th and 18th cen tury, in Spain,Portugal, France, sou thern Germany, Aus t r ia , the Balkans and even in the predom inan t lyIslamic Ottoman Empire, s aw a development in ornamental e lements and details whi leadhering to the basic style.I shall try to demonstrate both the un i t y of s tyle and diversi ty in character ,particularly wi th examples of churc hes and mosques. W hen the baroque architectureof a region is int roduced in primary and secondary educat ion , it is necessary to present

    in broad terms, i ts character is tics, i ts evolut ion and the n ovelt ies i t has brou ght toEurope in general. Mere l is t ing of the buildings in catalogue form w i t h o u t dwel l ing o ntheir place and importance in European c ultur al his tory w ou ld o n ly be encyclopedicinformation devoid o f substance. Naturally,my limited presenta t ion can on ly give somegeneral ideas on the method I reco mmen d. To i llustrate my po in t o f v i ew , w i t h anexample, I picked a rather ex tre me case, namely the arc h i tec ture of the 18th ce ntu ryOt toman mosque.

    In order to make the s tu de nt s und ers tand the baroque s tyle in Ot toman ar t , i t i snecessary to teach them a few concepts f i rs t on the evolu t ion o f baroque chu rches inEurope.

    51

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    42/141

    I t is common knowledge that baroque style in archi tecture is character ized byexaggerated odd-looking, contorted and overdone ornamenta t ion. In fact, th e word"baroque" in Portugal, refers to pearls with irregular shapes.

    Throughout th e Renaissance, th e dominan t idea shaping the bui ld ings w as spatialu n i t y an d openness . The onlooker could see through the bui lding f rom one end to theother w i t h o u t any optical hindrance and get a full impression o f the variou s parts of thebuilding and thei r funct ions. In contrast , in baroque archi tecture, th e main elements o fcons t ruc t ion are no t discernible at a glance.

    We see here the facade an d th e entrance of the Q u a d r o Fon t ana C h u rch in R o m e ,built by the famous architect Francesco Borromini . It is dated around 1638.U n d u l a t i n g w alls and scu lptu red o rn amen ta t ions impar t the impress ion o f a carvedspace. Walls a re seemingly in mo t i o n , w i t h i n w a r d an d o u twa rd g yra t i o n s wh i l e th eci rcular plan o f Renaissance a rch i t ec tu re becomes e l l i p t i c . The ell ip t ic shaped cupolaemphas izes the plan.

    Baroque archi tecture in Italy an d France reta ins, to a cer ta in ex ten t , th e ser ious an daus tere Rena i s sance style. The Saint Andrea all Quir inale C h u rch i n R o m e , bui l t by thearch i tec t Lorenzo Bernin i a t the end o f the 17 th cen tu ry, presen ts another typicalexample o f baroque decora t ions w i t h i ts pompous an d overs ized rel ief decorat ion on thefacade and interior.

    We not ice the austere French character of the famous baroque arch i tec t Ju lesHardo in M a n s a r t o n the facade of the Sa i n t Lo u i s des Invnl idc s C h u r c h in Paris an dins ide th e Royal Chapel in Versa i l les , both da t in g back t he end of the 17th c e n t u r y .The most s ign i f i c an t development in Fran ce is in i n t e r n a l decora t ion at theb eg i n n i n g o f the 18th cen tu ry . G ran d i o se o rna me n t a t i on i s replaced by "f inesse" an dbold relief gives way to f iner decora t ive e lements such as w a l l p a i n t i n g s , carvings an dfrescoes. In th i s m a n n e r , th e rococo s tyle of the later years of the reign o f Lo u i s X I V

    emerged. Compared to baroque, rococo is less orna t e and ha s a brighter colour. Onthe o ther hand, the baroque and rococo churches i n s ou t he rn Germany, Aus t r i a , Spa inan d Portugal a re more ornamenta l . The spat ial concep t is overshadowed by sculp ture ,pain t ings , carved marble o r s tone deco r a t i on .

    The facades o f th e Sant iago dc Compostela Cathedra l in Spain and the Karls churchin V i e n n a (bui l t by Fi scher vo n Erlacli between 1716 an d 1739.) a rc represen ta t ive ofth e di f fe rences e x i s t i ng b e tween reg iona l baroque a r c h i t e c t u r a l s tyles . The Span i shexamples a rc th e most i n t r i ca t e ly o rna me n t a l ones .

    A typical example o f German baroque is (h e church of S t . Peter in Obcrmnrchtulin so u th e rn G erman y , buil t a t th e en d o f th e 17th c e n t u r y . Th e ab u n d an ce o f de ta i l sw h i c h appear to be unnecessary and i r relevant arc, in fact , par t s of a decora t ive whole .

    Decora t ion h as t h u s become an integral part o f a r c h i t e c t u r e an d the a rch i tec t w asresponsible fo r every th ing. He used scu lptu re , pa in t ings , s ta ined glass f i n d incorporated

    52

  • 8/3/2019 European Heritage Classes

    43/141

    such decorative elements in the architectural concept, creat ing a fanci ful , illusiveatmosphere. In fact, optical illusion i s one of the most salient c haracteristics of baroquearchitecture.

    In Ste ingaden, Bavaria, the Wies Pilgrimage Church is excess ively decorated. I tdates from the middle of the 18th century. The archi tec t Domin i t u s BaptistZimmermann lavishly used marble, stucco and frescoes to create an overdone ,ostentatious but emotionally eloquent decoration. The simple outlook of the churchwi th i ts slanted roof reminds us of the typical Bavarian house style.

    The various f igures, cherubin and plant mot i f s combine to form a decorat ive w ho leprogram and also serve to cover up the con nec t ion points of structural e lement s .It is interest ing to note that Bri t a in , nor thern Germany, Holland and theScandinavian coun t ries did not fully accept baroque arch itectur e. Their Protestan t w orldw as different and the Rome-oriented architecture of the Catholic world did not makea strong impression in those count r ies . How ever, in te re s t ing baroque church es are tobe f o u n d in the Balkans and eastern Euro pe, dis playing a rem arkable com binat ion o fbaroque style and local archite ctur al trad ition . A typical example is S t . Andreas C hu rchin Kiev, built by the Italian arch itect Rastrell i in the middle of the 18th cen tury, w herebaroque inspired do mes are merged wi th the c lass ica l