CULTURAL HERITAGE, CULTURAL LANDSCAPE AND TEACHING OF SOCIAL SCIENCES IN ARAUCANIA, CHILE

Abstract

Concepts of landscape and cultural patrimony concentrate the interest of Social Sciences Didactics, because they allow to engage environmental, geographic and historical problems. Regarding the rela-tionship between both concepts, studies point out that knowledge and divulgation of landscape as patrimony promote people’s consciousness as they are an endless source of knowledge in constant transformation. At the same time, this relationship is seen as the opportunity of the patrimony giving its value to the landscape. If rural buildings and places considered as ordinary were treated as patrimony, they could become meaningful ways to the understanding and caring of landscape in its real dimension. This has a special meaning in territories that possess a strong intercultural accent, as in the Araucania, where a big percentage of its population is mapuche. Mapuche interpretation of the environ-ment is linked to their cosmovision, from where the cultural landscape is part, and at the same time representing a great source of deep social disagreements.
Starting in the Initial Formation it is necessary to develop teaching models of the landscape as patrimony, especially in the region of Araucania, to cooperate to a contextualised, democratic school teaching. For this reason, we present a preliminary theoretical discussion about the usefulness of including in the Initial Formation the study of the cultural landscape from the perspective of heritage, in order to improve and strengthen the training of future teachers in the region. We applied a qualitative methodology, consisting in systematizing theoretically articles related to the subject, which allowed us to conclude that it is necessary to reconsider the teaching of the landscape from the perspective of heritage, to include in the courses associated with the area of geography and didactic pedagogical experiences to develop In the students of pedagogy the concern to deepen in the relation between both concepts, and finally to look for the form to transfer this interest to in-service teachers.