부산대학교 도서관

This thesis seeks to fill a gap in heritage education when it comes to the subject of built religious heritage. Though Catalonia and Spain are teeming with such heritage sites, which are intimately linked with historical events and artistic movements and rich in emotional depth, the analytical vacuum around them makes it difficult for them to be understood in all their complexity. Setting out to address this shortfall threw up a number of questions and doubts. If, as per the title of Eric Hobsbawm's posthumous 2013 work, we are living in "fractured times," how are society, culture and religion being shaped by this backdrop and how do the changes involved affect the comprehension of cultural heritage? Can we decode major religious monuments dating back to past times without being versed in the codes that underlay their construction? Can tangible culture be understood without reference to the intangible values that inspire it and give it meaning? To what extent can heritage education and teaching answer these questions? Owing to the nature of the issues at hand and the aims of my research, the thesis is necessarily split into two distinct parts. The first part consists of a diagnostic study of Catalan medieval religious heritage based on a sample of 112 heritage sites, with a view to identifying how they are currently used, the presentational methods and strategies being employed there and the messages that these convey. The framework for this analysis centers on the educational models in place, the messages communicated, the management of the sites and the target audiences. Following on from this broad overview is an in-depth case study of one of the aforementioned sites, Poblet Monastery. This case study is in turn divided into three sections, relating to the three stages of work completed. The first was an exploratory phase involving a non-participatory, observational analysis of the activities carried out at the monastery and the launch of the first pilot tests; the second revolved around drawing up and documenting what I term the Flexible Multi-model Education Program (Programa Educatiu Multimodèlic Flexible, PEMF); and the third consisted of conducting experimental activities and assessment through focus groups featuring 33 students from the University of Barcelona's Bachelor's Degree in Primary Education. The qualitative data gathered were processed, analyzed and broken down into five categories or "families" using the computer program ATLAS.ti. The results from these discussion groups provide a roadmap for the design of heritage education programs based on attributes such as the element of surprise, empathy, variety and interactivity.