Heritage Education and Research in Museums. Conceptual, Intellectual and Social Structure within a Knowledge Domain (2000-2019)

Heritage and museums have constituted two fundamental axes of heritage education research in recent decades. This can be defined as the pedagogical process in which people can learn about heritage assets in formal or informal learning contexts. Museums, as centres of reference in informal education, are in constant and fluid contact with schools and produce different and varied didactic materials related to heritage. This paper provides results concerning the development and shaping of the knowledge domain known as heritage education between 2000 and 2019 on the Web of Science (WoS). To this end, different techniques and tools have been used: R-package Bibliometrix and VOSviewer. This analysis has identified five clusters with the topics underpinning heritage education as a specific field of knowledge. Our inquiry has highlighted the fact that there has been an increase in production regarding research topics associated with heritage education and museums in this period, particularly between 2015 and 2019. The inclusion of ESCI journals has led to a greater visibility of WoS-indexed academic production in some countries. Finally, the concepts heritage, museum and education are the axes around which the research paradigms related to heritage education research seem to have been developed.

Automated summary

In recent decades, heritage and museums have been fundamental aspects of heritage education research, providing a pedagogical process for people to learn about heritage assets in both formal and informal learning contexts. The research has identified an increase in production of research topics related to heritage education and museums, particularly between 2015 and 2019, with the inclusion of ESCI journals leading to greater visibility of academic production in some countries. The concepts of heritage, museum, and education serve as central themes around which research paradigms in heritage education have been developed.