An Analysis of Educational Designs in Intangible Cultural Heritage Programmes: the Case of Spain

The goal of this paper is to analyse the approaches and categories that underpin the educational programmes related to intangible heritage in Spain, inventoried by the Spanish Heritage Education Observatory (SHEO). We need to define the question and provide guidelines concerning the main issues to be borne in mind in designing programmes for such a sensitive area as intangible heritage, the ultimate aim being to contribute towards the improvement of future designs. The study shows that the educational programmes under scrutiny belong to a broad range of typologies within intangible heritage and have several shortcomings in their educational design. This is indeed a source of concern in view of the important role played by Heritage Education in raising the awareness of people and guaranteeing unifying processes to ensure that cultural expressions become part of the community’s shared heritage.