Explorando la invisibilidad en el paisaje cultural urbano: intervención didáctica en la formación inicial de maestros

The urban cultural landscape emerges as an element of spatial relevance to address socially relevant problems. It integrates various elements that make visible and commemorate certain historical figures, places or events, to the detriment of other groups or minorities, whose representation in the symbols of the urban landscape is practically non-existent. Based on this approach, this works presents the results of a didactic intervention, aimed at valuing urban heritage and its social implications. The training activity takes place at the Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa (ESELx), involving two groups of students. The main objective was to evaluate whether the toponymy of the street map and the sculptures of certain neighborhoods in Lisbon reflect the diversity that exists in the city in terms of social classes, cultures and genders. Likewise, student perceptions in relation to the analyzed urban heritage were explored. For this purpose, debates were generated, the content of the student productions was evaluated and a questionnaire was implemented. The main results show that the various elements of the urban heritage do not reflect the existing diversity in the city of Lisbon. A scant representation of female figures is evident, as well as elements related to diverse beliefs or cultures and members belonging to disadvantaged social strata. Furthermore, the potential of using urban heritage as a teaching resource to develop the critical thinking of future educators is manifested.