Att lära sig förstå dåtiden – en kvalitativ intervjustudie över historielärares undervisningsstrategier för att främja historisk empati

Abstract

The emergence of research regarding historical empathy took off during the late 20th century and is thus a relatively limited field in history didactics. The vast majority of research conducted in the area of historical empathy in history didactics has been of Anglo-Saxon nature. Researches have tested specific teaching strategies and evaluated how they contribute to the development of historical empathy. However these approaches have not been sufficient to draw attention to the teaching practice of professional teachers and how they work with the skills included in the concept of historical empathy. This study aims to contribute with new perspectives that are related to teacher’s practice regarding historical empathy.

The purpose of this study is to examine how history teachers in upper secondary school interpret the concept of historical empathy, what teaching strategies they implement to promote historical empathy and also what opportunities and challenges teachers identify that historical empathy offers in history teaching. The study is based on qualitative method in the form of interviews where four teachers expressed their thoughts on historical empathy and by applying thematic analysis, based on the research questions, four themes where distinguished. The result indicates that the concept of historical empathy is foreign to the majority of the respondents, however they are well acquainted with the purpose of empathy. Furthermore history teachers implement several different teaching strategies to foster the skills that promote historical empathy, mostly by bringing history to life and studying historical individuals from different perspectives. Teachers identify that some of the challenges are student’s limited historical frame of reference and difficulty of seeing different time contexts. However the opportunities of implementing historical empathy in history teaching, according to the teachers, is that it offers increased stimulation and emotional engagement because it feels real and students develop an understanding of who they are and also other people in the past and present.

The study concludes that there are positive attitudes to the work of historical empathy among the respondents, especially with the aim of helping students develop into democratic citizens. Further research is however necessary to confirm the results of this study. Until then the conclusion is that historical empathy should be an integral part of history education.