Guiding Statement
Heritage Education is a pedagogical approach to teaching and learning that uses information available from tangible and intangible culture and from the natural, human, and built environments as primary instructional resources. It is a relational and experiential process that takes place in the interaction between the individual and the object or idea of heritage.
Mission
To provide an alliance for those who use, manage, teach, or create information about past or present peoples and cultures.
Goals
The goals of THEN are to use and encourage education as a means to protect and preserve the past for the future; to provide a forum and network for practitioners, professional educators, and the public to communicate and collaborate about heritage education; to develop standards, codes of ethics, best practices, and professional guidelines for heritage educators; to mentor individuals entering or practicing in the profession of heritage education; to share and publicize best practices and resources for practitioners; and to provide a venue for publication.
Vision and Purpose
We are archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, formal and informal educators, architects, folklorists, museum specialists, interpreters, art historians and others committed to public outreach about cultural heritage. We work together to network, exchange ideas, professionalize, and publish information. We provide a bridge between professional heritage specialists and those who produce, use, and disseminate educational materials.
THEN aspires to pursue its mission and purpose by: (1) communicating through its publications and website; (2) setting best practices and guidelines for practicing professionals; (3) recommending curriculum heritage educators at all levels; (4) promoting and conducting professional development programs; and (5) expressing its members’ interests—and anthropological and educational approaches in general—to the public, government agencies, and other professional associations. Through these activities, THEN strives to be a premier professional organization for heritage educators and users of heritage education materials around the world.
Bylaws
Adopted March 13, 2017. Download Bylaws here- THEN_Bylaws_2017-03-15_ADPOTED