ABSTRACT
This chapter explores why learning about heritage is important and how it is taught. It explores power relations, culturally appropriate knowledge and the importance of language in knowledge transmission and examines the differing attitudes pertaining to heritage education and the teaching of curatorial studies and preservation in the light of my New Zealand research. The chapter establishes the perceptions of past programmes and sets the context for how awareness of values could be incorporated into educational programmes for heritage professionals. Heritage is intrinsically linked to education, but in order to learn about the values of a culture, it is necessary to know the language so the concepts can be understood. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the history of the Native School system in rural Mori communities demonstrates that suppression of Mori language and culture was an established part of schooling for young Mori in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century.
