Page 31 - Balancing between the present and the past
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                                2.2 Theoretical framework
2.2.1 Historical perspective taking: a conceptualization
Without the ability to perform HPT, it is impossible to achieve historical reasoning 2 and thinking (Lévesque, 2008; Seixas & Morton, 2013; Van Drie & Van Boxtel, 2008).
Seixas and Peck (2004) conceptualize HPT as an understanding of the social, cultural,
intellectual, and emotional setting that shaped people’s lives and actions, and they
emphasize the importance of being aware of the difference between the past and present. Hartmann and Hasselhorn (2008) follow the definition of Lee and Ashby (2001) and define HPT as the application of the knowledge that historical agents had particular perspectives on their world that affected their actions. Van Boxtel and Van Drie (2012) and Yeager and Foster (2001) talk about the application of the knowledge and understandings of the historical context and chronology.
Based on a review of the literature, we distilled three elements necessary for performing HPT successfully. First, the ability to perform historical contextualization was identified (e.g., Britt & Aglinskas, 2002; Doppen, 2000; Havekes, Coppen, Luttenberg, & Van Boxtel, 2012; Leinhardt & McCarthy Young, 1996; Nokes, Dole, & Hacker, 2007; Rouet, Favart, Britt, & Perfetti, 1997; Van Boxtel & Van Drie, 2012; Wineburg, 1998). Historical contextualization refers to building a context of circumstances or facts that surround the particular historical phenomenon to describe, compare, explain, or evaluate it (Van Drie & Van Boxtel, 2008; Wineburg, 1991). In history, it is possible to contextualize historical sources or historical phenomena, including persons, events, developments, or structures. In HPT, the focus is the contextualization of actions of people and groups in the past. Students can therefore use chronological, spatial, and socio-cultural frames of reference (De Keyser & Vandepitte, 1998).
Second, students need to exhibit historical empathy (e.g., Davis, 2001; Endacott, 2010; Lee & Ashby, 2001; Skolnick, Dulberg, & Maestre, 2004). Without the ability to imagine oneself in a situation that he or she is not likely to experience, the past remains an unopened book. However, historical empathy is not sympathy, as Eisenberg (2000) notes. Sympathy is compassion, sorrow, or concern for another person. Historical empathy focuses on identifying with people in the past based on historical knowledge to explain their actions in the past.
Measuring historical contextualization
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