Engaging the Local Community in the Exploration of Cultural Heritage in Primary Education

When addressing cultural heritage in early education, it is imperative to closely examine the relationship between the content of cultural heritage itself, human understanding, and perception of cultural heritage. Cultural heritage must be introduced to students from a very early age. Kindergartens and elementary schools are responsible for acquainting students with cultural heritage and teaching them to appreciate the heritage of our ancestors through various didactic approaches. The primary objective of the research presented in this study was to investigate how the local environment is integrated into the teaching of cultural heritage and determine the opinion of the elderly about the teaching and learning of cultural heritage content in primary schools and the level of their involvement in passing it on to younger generations. The study involved 130 participants from the older generation, with an average age of 73 years, ranging from the youngest participant at 62 to the oldest at 96. Data collection was carried out using a questionnaire. The findings reveal that most older generation participants believe that teaching cultural heritage content to students and integrating this content into the teaching at elementary schools in Slovenia is insufficient. Members of the older generation believe that elementary school students enjoy learning about cultural heritage and that promoting children’s awareness of cultural heritage is essential. The results also show that most older people in local communities do not cooperate with schools and kindergartens. However, those who do participate do so through workshops and various presentations.