This article presents a method called 'history of places', as a tool to help recover local history and reinforce social identity, as well as to bring schools and communities together so that students become more interested in studying reality. The article shows important results of the method for schools in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro in the last decades, describes methodology and research procedures, presents results of pilot experiences in 7th and 8th grades, points to the possibility of further development as well as emphasizes some of the barriers there are in public primary and secondary schools to applying educational classroom methods that aim at preparing students for society, not only for work.
history and education; history methodology; Rio de Janeiro suburbs memory and identity; school and society; public secondary schools