For the past one and a half years as a heritage educationist, first with Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation (SRDC), I built on my theoretical translation of presenting ‘heritage’ through the medium of heritage walks for various sections of residents in Delhi.
Early this year, I started my association with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Heritage Education, a programme that will reach out to children across the country with educational projects on heritage.
In my first posting for the CBSE website, I suggested that it is imperative to make the subject as functional as possible to attract both educators and students to engage with heritage. Heritage or a better word ‘ parampara ’ means flowing tradition from the past affecting the present, and traditions created in the present which may affect the future. It is cerebral genetic civilisational identity which is thousands of years old and which impels us in our present existence.
Fallout of globalisation is that the youth are completely ‘delinked’ and confining heritage as art and craft will not functionally mean anything to them. Working out an attractive package, I started working with over 500 school teachers. My first patent statement to them was, “Make heritage education as a link programme between natural and social science subjects.” Here is one example of how a heritage educator from G.D. Salwan School, Seema Goyal translated the concept into action.
In the first step, the school adopted a neighborhood monument Bhuli Bhatiyari ka Mahal a hunting lodge built by Feroz Shah Tuglaq in the 14 Century. The school then developed a heritage activity calendar. Recently, during the celebration of Heritage Week with the assistance of her principal Vijay Lakshmi and a team of teachers, they created a day long celebration on environmental heritage. From dances of forest-dwellers such as the Warlis, Nagas, to mathematical based models with organic material of monuments of Delhi, to beautifully made news letters on ‘heritage’ of various kinds such as linguistic heritage. They even had a talk by Bedi brothers on becoming a wild life photographer and film maker. In addition the school maintains a wonderful blog http://hcdgdsps.blogspot.in/ 2012_07_01_archive.html . The school also encouraged children to examine the various kinds of trees and the botanical heritage around the monument.
With project work for the CBSE site I have, with help of young researchers Gunjan and Kanika, been able to create definitions, and exciting projects covering cultural, natural and digital heritage gradually. The work is in progress.
The amazing part of the programme is the positive enthusiasm to explore heritage by the schools. Some schools, for example, with my guidance are creating projects and exploring heritage of water conservation, while the mathematical heritage schools are with a site such as Jantar Mantar. Regarding the latter, teachers were encouraged to probe the play of mathematics in carpet weaving, in performing arts such as dance and percussion rhythms.
Heritage Education seems to have potential to root the children with their indigenous identity. Once when I conducted a walk with large number of school children at a forlorn observatory called Pir Gayab, I invited a space scientist from the Nehru Planetarium to relate what it took to become a space scientist. Yes, Heritage Education maybe one way to link the children to be saviors of creative and cultural industries and bring to fore contemporary societal problems on the way to becoming responsible, creative citizens.
(The author is Chief Convener of Heritage Education (Consultant) with CBSE)
