The Effectiveness of Cultural Property and Conservation Learning in Elementary Education and Evaluation of the Contribution of Non-Governmental Organizations [Megaron]

Cultural heritage definition, with its tangible and intangible meanings, introduces places that are a part of daily life in the concern of conservation efforts. With this context, conservation has become the concern of daily life and saddling users with more responsibility. With this respect, people need to be aware of the values and importance of cultural heritage and their individual role in its conservation. To develop public awareness for conservation of cultural heritage, it is necessary to start awareness studies in childhood education. In recognition of the importance of raising the awareness of children, cultural heritage concepts have been included in Turkish primary school education programs. Additionally, a number of awareness studies have been carried out by non-governmental organizations up to date. This paper aims to evaluate the cultural heritage concept in social science programs in elementary education and discuss the potential contributions of awareness studies carried out by non-governmental organizations to education system. In the first part of the paper, the place of individuals in conservation studies is emphasized, followed in the second part by cultural heritage learning areas in social science programs in elementary education and in the third part by the results of the survey held to evaluate students' learning degrees. The forth part evaluates awareness-raising studies carried out in international and national level by non-governmental organizations. The last part proposes a number of criteria to be considered when attempting to raise cultural heritage education among children