A Complicated Conversation
Podcast Episode

​Show Notes

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• Thank you to my colleague, Randal Carter, for hosting.

• Here’s a link to learn more about the University of the District of Columbia’s Master of Arts in Teaching program

• If you would like to explore a related area of study—historical consciousness—read Popa (2022)

• Thank you for listening. Matthew Hammond (mcarltonh@gmail.com)

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Practical guidance for using Historical Empathy in the classroom

• Racial discrimination and denial of the right to vote to African Americans in the early 20th century (Yancie, n.d.)

• The holocaust, using Endacott & Brooks (2013)’s instructional model (Connor & Graham, 2023)

• Social control in the context of Ancient Athens (Endacott & Pelekanos, 2015; Endacott & Sturtz, 2015)

• Ancient Athen’s decision to execute its victorious generals after their victory over the Spartan fleet in 406 B.C.E. (Babalis & Lazarakou, 2021)

• Use of historical empathy in an AP European History class (Brooks, 2011)

• How to explore controversial issues using discussion and historical empathy (Alvén, 2024)

• Instructional model with recommendations and potential questions to use with students at different stages of historical empathy lesson (Endacott & Brooks, 2013)

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References

(*indicates the academic research that is the starting point for this podcast)

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Alvén, F. (2024 [in press]). Controversial issues in history teaching. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2024.2322502 

• Discusses how to explore controversial issues using discussion and historical empathy

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Babalis, T. K., & Lazarakou, E. D. (2021). Employing empathy to teach and assess the learning process in controversial historical issues. Creative Education, 12(7), 1615–1628. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2021.127123

• Example of using historical empathy to explore Athens decision to execute its victorious generals after their victory over the Spartan fleet in 406 B.C.E.

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*Brooks, S. (2011). Historical empathy as perspective recognition and care in one secondary social studies classroom. Theory and Research in Social Education, 39(2), 166–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2011.10473452 

• Helpful discussion of the history of historical empathy

• Case study of use of historical empathy in an AP European History class

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Connor, C. J., & Graham, T. C. (2023). Using an instructional model of historical empathy to teach the holocaust. The Social Studies, 114(1), 19–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2022.2073582 

• Example of a thoughtful, well-planned instructional approach to teaching the holocaust, using Endacott & Brooks (2013)’s instructional model

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*Endacott, J. L., & Brooks, S. (2013). An updated theoretical and practical model for promoting historical empathy. Social Studies Research and Practice, 8(1), 41–58. http://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-01-2013-B0003 

• Proposes a dual-domain conceptual definition of historical empathy

• Lays out a 3-pronged instructional approach to using historical empathy in the classroom, including recommendations and potential questions to use with students at different stages of a lesson

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*Endacott, J. L., & Brooks, S. (2018). Historical empathy: Perspectives and responding to the past. In S. A. Metzger & L. M. Harris (Eds.), The Wiley International handbook of history teaching and learning (pp. 203–225). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119100812.ch8 

• Helpful discussion of the history of historical empathy.

• Broader treatment of historical empathy.

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Endacott, J. L., & Pelekanos, C. (2015). Slaves, women, and War! Engaging middle school students in historical empathy for enduring understanding. The Social Studies, 106(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2014.957378 

• Example of using historical empathy to explore social control in the context of Ancient Athens 

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Endacott, J. L., & Sturtz, J. (2015). Historical empathy and pedagogical reasoning. The Journal of Social Studies Research, 39(1), 1–16. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2014.05.003 

• Example of using historical empathy to explore social control in the context of Ancient Athens 

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*Lee, P., & Shemilt, D. (2011). The concept that dares not speak its name: Should empathy come out of the closet?. Teaching History, (143), 39–49. https://www.history.org.uk/publications/resource/4654/should-empathy-come-out-of-the-closet 

• Helpful discussion of the history of historical empathy, from a proponent of the cognitive approach.

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Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Empathy. Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved October 15, 2024, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empathy 

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National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). (2013). The college, career, and civic life (C3) framework for social studies state standards: Guidance for enhancing the rigor of K–12 civics, economics, geography and history. Author. https://www.socialstudies.org/standards/c3 

• The concept of perspectives in history is discussed at page 47.

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Perrota, K. A. (2018, October 13). What is historical empathy?. [Retrieved October 15, 2024.] Dr. Perotta’s “The Elizabeth Jennings project”: The one-stop shop for historical empathy and social studies research and teaching resources. https://elizabethjenningsproject.wordpress.com/what-is-istorical-empathy/ 

• Pointed me toward NCSS (2013)

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Popa, N. (2022). Operationalizing historical consciousness: A review and synthesis of the literature on meaning making in historical learning. Review of Education Research, 92(2), 171–208. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543211052333

• Examining a related and overlapping topic—historical consciousness

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Wilschut, A., & Schiphorts, K. (2019). ‘One has to take leave as much as possible of one’s own standards and values’: Improving and measuring historical empathy and perspective reconstruction. History Education Research Journal, 16(1), 74–87. https://doi.org/10.18546/HERJ.16.1.07 

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Yancie, N. (n.d.). Examining African American experiences in the early 1900s: Developing historical empathy skills by discussing public issues. Social Studies Teaching and Learning, 2(1), 56–67. https://louisville.edu/education/sstl/files/volume-2-issue-1/yancie-sstl2-1-pgs56-67.pdf 

• Social Studies Teaching and Learning is an open-source peer-reviewed journal of the Kentucky Council for the Social Studies

• Based on its reference list, this article is from 2018 or later

• Outlines 2 activities using historical empathy in a secondary school setting:

  • Writing a historical monologue to articulate their knowledge about racial discrimination that African Americans faced in the early 20th century.

  • Using What a Colored Man Should Do to Vote (African American Pamphlet Collection, 1900) to explore the obstacles an African American man had to navigate in order to vote at the beginning of the 20th century