Implementing living heritage education through school activity plans

Annual school activity plans often include cultural events, but their pedagogical value depends on whether students participate as passive attendees or active contributors. This study examines how a state-mandated school activity plan can be reframed as living heritage education in lower-secondary schooling. The research used a practice-based qualitative implementation case study supported by comparative document analysis. Kazakhstan and Türkiye were examined as institutional contexts where history, values education, cultural heritage, and out-of-school learning are embedded in centralized education systems. The implementation case was conducted in a mainstream urban public school in Kazakhstan and involved the full Grade 8 parallel: five classes and 154 students. Data included official policy documents, school-level planning and reporting materials, attendance and participation records, student-created cultural artifacts, and staff observation notes. The culminating heritage event involved 147 students, representing 95.5% attendance. Student contributions operationalized UNESCO’s living heritage categories, including genealogical narratives (shezhire), material craftsmanship, performing arts, social practices, and intergenerational participation. The findings show that an ordinary annual activity plan can become a structured heritage-learning environment when it connects family memory, cultural artifacts, student contribution, and community participation. The study offers a transferable model for strengthening heritage education through existing school structures without adding a new subject or increasing curriculum load.