Treatment of Cultural Heritage Content in the Subject Social Studies in Primary School

Abstract

Presented research was conducted to analyse the representation and treatment of cultural heritage content in Social Studies classes at the elementary level of primary school. 68 Social Studies lessons in primary schools in the Republic of Slovenia were observed and analysed. Cultural heritage is part of the identity of every nation. Therefore, it is of great importance that even youngest students in primary schools are acquainted with it. The content of cultural heritage can be dealt with in a number of subjects at the elementary school level. Focus of the research was treatment of cultural heritage in Social Studies in 4th and 5th grade of Slovene primary schools. Results showed that in the half of the observed lessons the content of the cultural heritage was integrated into the lesson. Great majority of teachers discussing the content of cultural heritage put the main focus on knowledge. For the teaching of cultural heritage content, the didactic strategies inquiry-based learning and problem-based learning were mostly used.