A light for Teaching History in Fortaleza: the construction of citizenship through an Heritage Education project with the Mucuripe Lighthouse
Teaching History; Heritage Education; Citizenship
The present work has the aim of contributing to History Teaching, whose purpose is the development of citizens, in other words, conscious individuals who are historical subjects and have a social role. The formation of a "historical consciousness", concept of the German historian Jörn Rüsen, is the reason for the existence of History Teaching. Therefore, the study of this concept is the theoretical framework for this research. To achieve our goal, it will be presented a detailed project involving Heritage Education to be applied in eighth grade classes of the Ensino Fundamental (Middle School) in Fortaleza. This project should be applied by History teachers along with the support of their teaching institutions. The proposed methodology will use Historical Heritage, more specifically the old Farol do Mucuripe (Mucuripe Lighthouse), as a didactic resource for the learning of History and the exercise of citizenship. This work proposes to make the students identify problems in the current situation of abandonment and deterioration of the old lighthouse building located in the community of Serviluz, in the Cais do Porto neighborhood. The students will analyze the historical importance of the building and propose solutions to its current state of abandonment, contributing to their citizen development and social participation. Throughout execution, students will answer questions such as: Why should the building be preserved, and what use should be given to it? The application of this project will be done using the principles of Heritage Education as a didactic methodology, that is, the identification, evaluation, and appraisal of historical heritage. Through the study of Historical Consciousness, it is possible to map the student's learning and, thus, identify their development as citizens.