Use of Heritage Education to Provide Extra Depth to the Topic
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Front images: Upper: Several Leiden monuments (Paul Rommer via www.vectorstock.com) Lower: Symbols of the Ten Eras (after www.canonvanlimburg.nl) Author M.E. Vogels (s1228153) [email protected] BETWEEN NATIONAL AND REGIONAL HERITAGE A study on the influence of national museums on the representation of local heritage education in primary school curricula A Leiden case study Author M.E. Vogels (s1228153) Supervisor Dr. M. de Campos Françozo Course details and specialisations MA thesis Archaeology – ARCH 1044WY Museum Studies – Heritage Management in a World Context University of Leiden, Faculty of Archaeology Leiden 6-7-2018, final version MA Thesis: Between National and Regional Heritage M.E. Vogels, 2018 Table of Contents Preface ..................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................ 7 1.1 Rutte III: Every Dutch child should visit the Rijksmuseum .......................... 7 1.2 Definitions ...................................................................................................... 9 1.3 Research questions ....................................................................................... 11 1.4 Research methods ......................................................................................... 15 1.5 Thesis outline ............................................................................................... 17 Chapter 2: Dutch nationalism and the birth of museums ....................................... 19 2.1 The 19th century: the rise of nationalism and the birth of museums ............ 19 2.2 The 20th century: a period of globalisation and conservation ...................... 23 2.3 The privatisation of state museums .............................................................. 26 2.4 Summary ...................................................................................................... 28 Chapter 3: National history education and heritage education .............................. 30 3.1 National identity to unite the people ............................................................ 30 3.2 Two centuries of national history education in the Netherlands .................. 32 3.3 Heritage education: museums and schools .................................................. 36 3.4 Heritage education in Leiden ....................................................................... 43 3.5 Summary ...................................................................................................... 46 Chapter 4: The Leiden case study .......................................................................... 48 4.1 The Leiden museums ................................................................................... 48 4.2 The Leiden primary schools ......................................................................... 55 4.3 The Cultuureducatiegroep ............................................................................ 57 4.4 Selection education programmes ................................................................. 58 Chapter 5: Results .................................................................................................. 63 5.1 Overview respondents .................................................................................. 63 5.2 Results analysis Leiden museum education programmes ............................ 66 5.3 Results questionnaires .................................................................................. 80 Chapter 6: Discussion ............................................................................................ 92 6.1 Discussing the results ................................................................................... 92 6.2 Limitations and future research .................................................................... 98 3 MA Thesis: Between National and Regional Heritage M.E. Vogels, 2018 Chapter 7: Conclusion ......................................................................................... 100 Abstract ................................................................................................................ 102 References ............................................................................................................ 103 Internet pages ................................................................................................... 103 Literature .......................................................................................................... 108 List of figures ....................................................................................................... 112 List of tables ......................................................................................................... 113 List of Appendices ............................................................................................... 113 4 MA Thesis: Between National and Regional Heritage M.E. Vogels, 2018 Preface “„The‟ Dutch identity? No, I have not found that. (...) The Dutch are too versatile to capture in one cliché. „The‟ Dutchman does not exist.” – Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. Queen Máxima introduced the results on the Report Identification with the Netherlands during her opening speech in 2007, claiming there is no such thing as a perfect Dutchman. Nevertheless, we see a reoccurring wish of the Dutch State to create a perfect citizen. A citizen who is raised with Dutch values and history, and prepared for participating in a globalising world. A Dutchman proud of his or her identity. Many times, heritage is used to create this „ideal‟ citizen and museums are often used to promote the „best‟ heritage towards young students. During my time as a student, I have been stuck on questions concerning right and wrong in the world of archaeology, heritage and museums. Starting with the simple documentation of material behind the screens. How can you justify handling human remains in a laboratory, without ever knowing what the deceased in question might think of it. Moreover, can we display them for everyone to see? And what about looted heritage and its restitution. Crown jewels in a museum that make you „aawh‟ in wonder, with sometimes shady and peculiar object histories? It all came down to the question „who decides?‟. The same question came back to me during my master, when it became very clear that heritage is very much a selected story to tell. By whom? The public? The State? Museums? In this thesis I wanted to approach this everlasting dilemma once more, in combination with education. We are responsible for raising the next generation: what do we learn them and why? I thank dr. Mariana de Campos-Françozo for being enthusiastic about this topic and helping me to keep faith in graduating during difficult times. Thank you for your guidance and learning me to trust in my own choices during the process. Moreover, I thank Merel and Stefan for helping me to get the best out of my ideas, when they were still no more than hopeful imaginations. Thank you Jan, for your point of view. Thank you for all your feedback during your own precious free time. Finally, I thank all the respondents in the target groups for making it 5 MA Thesis: Between National and Regional Heritage M.E. Vogels, 2018 possibly to write this research, and my second reader for taking time to read my work. ~ Manon Vogels 6 MA Thesis: Between National and Regional Heritage M.E. Vogels, 2018 Chapter 1: Introduction Figure 1 - Primary school students lining up for the Nachtwacht by Rembrandt (www.rijksmuseum.nl) 1.1 Rutte III: Every Dutch child should visit the Rijksmuseum On September 28th 2017, the Regeerakkoord 2017-2021 written by the current Dutch cabinet Rutte III leaked to the public, two weeks earlier than planned. It was reported by several Dutch newspapers and news channels that this new cabinet wanted every student to visit the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam within their school trajectory and to oblige every student to learn the national anthem – Het Wilhelmus – in school. What followed was a heavy debate on the value and meaning of Dutch national heritage. Moreover, museums throughout the country cried out, being afraid to lose the schools that thus far visited them instead of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (www.dvhn.nl). The early leak marked the beginning of a discussion that formed the basis of the research problem central to this thesis. On October 10th 2017, the final Regeerakkoord was published. Although there were differences in phrasing, the cabinet still included the Rijksmuseum visits and obligatory national anthem lessons. The Regeerakkoord states that „our language, our flag, our national anthem, our commemorations and our constitutional law are not symbolic relics from the past, but signs of pride, freedom, rights and duties that belong to the Netherlands, to being Dutch and to our democratic Constitutional State.‟ The Dutch need to maintain, share and pass on these values to each other and newcomers (Regeerakkoord 2017, 4), to be able to stand together in times of globalisation and insecurity (Regeerakkoord 2017, 21). Some studies point out that parliamentarians, high school students and immigrants are lacking knowledge on national history and call for museums to 7 MA Thesis: Between National and Regional Heritage M.E. Vogels, 2018 more actively teach national history to the public (Legêne 2005, 127). Legêne points out that in times of European unification,