Educational heritage and museums: reflections on practical research, historical preservation and dissemination

Abstract

The preservation of educational heritage and assets in Portugal emerges, almost simultaneously, between teachers and historians of education. School memories along with searching and recording of the collections of teachers were introduced in Portuguese and in Brazilian historiography in the nineties of the twentieth century. Simultaneously the need for civic intervention in order to safeguard the sources became visible, and gradually, also the awareness of its importance to pass on as a legacy. The study of, and the gathering, exhibition and creation of an inventory of artefacts, seeks to establish a school culture in its materiality. In this article, following an epistemological point of view, we propose to reflect upon the significance of these practical activities, either for educational historiography, for knowledge diffusion or in the interest of museums.