Using eyewitnesses to promote students’ understanding of empathy in the history classroom

Journal of Social Studies Research - 2023
Hanneke Bartelds1, Geerte M. Savenije1, Jannet van Drie1, Carla van Boxtel2
1Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, PO Box 15776, 1001 NG, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam School of Historical Studies, University of Amsterdam, PO Box 15776, 1001 NG, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Tóm tắt

Empathy is important in our digitized and polarized world and an important aspect of education. What contribution can history teachers make to develop this in their students? In this study we investigated whether a lesson unit making use of eyewitnesses and designed from six pedagogical principles, resulted in more confidence in the ability to empathize, attributed importance to empathy and understanding of empathy by 10th grade students. In addition, we investigated the differences between two conditions: the use of a guest speaker versus eyewitnesses in a documentary. In this quasi-experimental intervention study, we used a pretest-posttest-follow-up design. The data were collected via questionnaires containing closed and open questions. The results showed that students (N = 97) in both conditions gained confidence in their ability to empathize and improved their ability to explain what empathy means and why it is important. After two months, progress on these items was still significant. In the condition with the guest speaker students scored significantly higher on understanding empathy than students who participated in the lesson unit with the documentary. This study contributes to the understanding of developing empathy through the use of eyewitnesses in history classes and the measurement of students’ understanding of empathy.

Tài liệu tham khảo

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