Heritage Education in Museums: an Inclusion- Focused Model

Abstract

Heritage Education in Museums: Inclusion Model (HEM-INMO) is one of the research conclusions of the Spanish Heritage Education Observatory (SHEO), funded by Spain’s Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. The Observatory evaluates educational programs generated in Spain and in the international area in the last two decades, especially in museums as heritage education non-formal contexts. Also, the HEM-INMO model is included within the aims of the National Education and Heritage Plan (NE&HP), created by Spain’s Institute of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports). This plan includes a specific programme for Heritage Education Research, focused on the inventory, analysis, and evaluation of inclusive educational programmes in museums. In this paper, we will describe both heritage management instruments (SHEO and NE&HP), and the HEM-INMO ́s theoretical foundations and educational standards. Additionally, we will conduct an analysis of some international reference examples (international benchmark projects) based on research work conducted in museums. Therefore, in this paper we reflect on the politics of heritage and on visitor diversity in the inclusive museum, redefining the education roles of museums. The HEM-INMO model considers museums as creators of cultural heritage in and for the knowledge society, so that we focus on their role as communicators and key actors in the transmission of cultural heritage.