Empathy in History Research and Education
ThemesEmpathy in History Research and Education
What is this about?
Why is this important?
Empathy means understanding the feelings of another person, but not necessarily sharing them.[3] Historians use empathy to put themselves in the position of individuals or groups from another time period with an aim of understanding their thoughts and feelings, and explaining motives that guided their actions within a specific historical context.[4][5] We can think of historical empathy as glasses that enable us to see history through the eyes of people who lived through it.[4] We are able to understand complexities of situations that people had to cope with in some difficult times, for instance, position, thoughts and actions of the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his negotiations with Adolf Hitler in the fall of 1938,[6] or that of Harry Truman and his decision to drop the atomic bombs at the end of World War II.[7]
One of the most important benefits of empathy is learning to apply multi-perspectivity.[4] This can help avoid passing simplistic judgements concerning the opposite terms of “just” and “unjust”, or “friend” and “enemy”, and learn how to critically interpret historical events. Therefore, empathy is suitable for studying sensitive, controversial and ambiguous issues and circumstances related to conflicts or tragedies.[4] For example, if we think of a Holocaust victim who stole a piece of bread and do not know the context, we might think of him or her as a bad person. However, if we contextualize it and use “a healthy dose of empathy” we might be able to see a starving and desperate person, which makes it more difficult for us to blame him or her for stealing a piece of bread. We can also try to contextualize it further by introducing another Holocaust victim: What if the bread was stolen from them? What is right and wrong in this situation?[8]For whom is this important?
What are the best practices?
In the late 1990s, a large cross-national survey was conducted with aim of exploring young people’s opinions of their history education in Europe. They had to put themselves into the shoes of a young man or woman from the 15th century being forced into marriage and were given six options:
-Refuse because it is inhuman, immoral and illegitimate to force someone to marry without real love;
-Obey because good economy is more important for a family than passionate love between wife and husband;
-Run away to a nunnery or a monastery because religious life is worth more than worldly life;
-Consent because nearly all young people have married in accordance with their parents’ decisions;
-Resist because it is the natural right of any individual to marry for love;
-Obey because rebellion against the parents’ will is a rebellion against the law of God.[4]
Respondents’ answers mostly showed their preference for rebellion “in the name of love and natural rights” and difficulties in accepting reasons for obedience (tradition, paternal power, economic reasons) common for 15th century mentality. Most students were not able to put themselves in the shoes of young people that lived in the 15th century because the question presented to them was out of their time and context. If we expect from students to apply empathy, they should have more knowledge about the 15th century society and some insights into mentality of the people living in that time. Many students projected their own contemporary opinions, feelings and stereotypes to the 15th century young people.[4]
Since empathy is something that can be learned and exercised[4], contemporary history curriculums use it as one of the tools for “historical understanding.”[9] Several strategies that can be applied in history classroom to develop empathy among students are role-playing, structured debate, narrative-writing concerning issues historical figures confront[9] history simulations, pro-and-con lists, examining films, novels and documentaries that provide “vicarious experiences” [10] and visits to historical sites.[11] These strategies can be applied particularly when some issue concerns a group or a nation unpopular with some or all students, or when an issue involves discrimination against a certain group.[10] It can also help understanding different cultures and improve communication and relations in multicultural societies.[9]Andrijana Perković Paloš contributed to this theme. Latest contribution was Jun 08, 2021
Other information
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Virtues & Values
Good Practices & Misconduct
Research Area
- ↑ Lazarakou ED. Empathy as a Tool for Historical Understanding: An Evaluative Approach of the Ancient Greek Primary History Curriculum. International Journal of Social Education. 2008;23(1):27-50.
- ↑ Nadilla D, Sunardi S. The Strengthening of Students’ Empathy through Living History. ASSEHR. 2017;158:198-209.
- ↑ Merriam-Webster. What’s the difference between ‘sympathy’ and ‘empathy’? [cited 2021 Feb 12]. Available from: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/sympathy-empathy-difference.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Lazarakou ED. Empathy as a Tool for Historical Understanding: An Evaluative Approach of the Ancient Greek Primary History Curriculum. International Journal of Social Education. 2008;23(1):27-50. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name ":0" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Endacott J, Brooks S. An Updated Theoretical and Practical Model for Promoting Historical Empathy. SSRP. 2013;8(1):41-58.
- ↑ Foster S. Using Historical Empathy to Excite Students about the Study of History: Can You Empathize with Neville Chamberlain? The Social Studies. 1999;90(1):18-24.
- ↑ Endacott JL. Negotiating the Process of Historical Empathy. Theory Rec Soc Educ. 2014;42(1):4-34.
- ↑ Study.com. Historical Empathy: Importance & Application. [cited 2021 Feb 8]. Available from: https://study.com/academy/lesson/historical-empathy-importance-application.html.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lazarakou ED. Empathy as a Tool for Historical Understanding: An Evaluative Approach of the Ancient Greek Primary History Curriculum. International Journal of Social Education. 2008;23(1):27-50.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Stradling R. Teaching 20th Century European History. Council of Europe; 2001.
- ↑ Nadilla D, Sunardi S. The Strengthening of Students’ Empathy through Living History. ASSEHR. 2017;158:198-209.
