Introduction: the Appeal of Heritage Education

Heritage is often associated with the current tendency of museums to stage a multi-sensory past, using a variety of objects and media in authentic and recreated environments to meet public expectations.1 The public interest in experiencing the past has also spawned a distinct type of teaching and learning: heritage education. Many schools organize visits to museums and heritage sites to provide students with opportunities to learn about the past and about how people relate to it. Educators argue that students particularly appreciate the sensory experience of entering a medieval castle, handling a historical object, listening to old songs or absorbing historical images of all kinds. All these sources serve as mediators between students and ‘the time that is lost forever’. [...]