Teaching historical empathy Perspective taking in past and present using eyewitnesses

The aim of this dissertation is to provide history teachers insights and tools on how they can foster students’ empathy in history lessons by using eyewitnesses. The central research question is: How can history teachers promote empathy in history lessons by incorporating eyewitnesses? This thesis aims to provide insights for history teachers to address citizenship competencies through the teaching of historical empathy. The overall approach in this thesis has characteristics of educational design research in which design principles and lessons based on them are developed and tested on the basis of theoretical and empirical exploration.
From the literature and interviews with history teachers and students, design principles were derived that can be considered principles for promoting empathy in the context of a history class. These design principles were used to design lesson series on Israel-Palestine in which two eyewitnesses acted as guest speakers in class and a lesson unit in which eyewitnesses were included in a documentary. These outcomes were used to organize a Professional Learning Community for history teachers on historical empathy.
It can be concluded that history education, particularly focusing on historical empathy, can offer valuable opportunities for students to practice empathy by exploring the perspectives of individuals from the past and present. The combination of working with eyewitnesses and seven design principles has the potential to provide teachers with concrete tools to promote empathy in history class, allowing teachers to add emphases and make choices depending on their own preferences in teaching and their goals.