Heritage Education as a Strategy in the Vallenato Chair from the Theatrical Play "Alejo Durán"

Abstract

Heritage education faces the challenge of generating experiences that allow students to actively relate to the cultural manifestations of their territory. In this context, the performing arts can be constituted as a pedagogical strategy capable of integrating knowledge, sensitive experience, memory and creation. The objective of this study was to analyze the possibilities of staging the life and work of the vallenato minstrel Alejandro Durán as a heritage education strategy and pedagogical resource for the Vallenato Chair. The research was developed through a qualitative approach and a descriptive design, articulating documentary review, research-creation and evaluation of the experience. As an artistic product, the play Apa, Sabroso, OA: The life of Alejo Durán was developed, structured in two acts and seven scenes, through the integration of theater, vallenato music and corporal expression. The experience was presented to students and members of the educational community and later evaluated by thirty participants through a perception survey. The results show a favorable assessment of the proposal: 90% rated its relevance to the Vallenata Chair as excellent, 86.7% rated the integration of artistic languages as excellent and 93.3% expressed an excellent assessment of the possibility of recommending the experience to other educational institutions. The results do not demonstrate a direct impact on learning, because no diagnostic tests or subsequent measurements were applied; however, they show a positive perception of the educational potential of the experience. It is concluded that the performing arts can function as a mediation to address heritage content from a situated perspective, as long as the representation is accompanied by processes of reflection, research and creation.