Page 107 - Balancing between the present and the past

History teachers and historical contextualization
to contextualize historical agents’ actions, historical events, or historical sources (Havekes, Coppen, Luttenberg, & Van Boxtel, 2012). Therefore, in this study, we use the definition of Van Boxtel and Van Drie (2012) and conceptualize historical contextualization as an activity in which one situates phenomena and people’s actions in the context of time, historical locations, long-term developments, or specific events to explain, compare, or evaluate these phenomena and actions. Huijgen, Van de Grift, et al. (2017) distinguished four interrelated components of historical contextualization: (1) reconstructing the historical context, (2) enhancing historical empathy, (3) using knowledge of the historical context to explain historical phenomena, and (4) enhancing the awareness of present-oriented perspectives among students when examining the past.
Reconstruction of a historical context needs to consider chronological, spatial, socio-political, socio-economic, and socio-cultural frames of reference (De Keyser &
Vandepitte, 1998). The chronological frame includes knowledge of time periods and 5 chronological knowledge of significant events and developments. The spatial frame
focuses on knowledge of (geographical) locations and scales, and the social frames
include knowledge of human behavior and the social conditions of life as well as
knowledge of economic and political developments. When students do not consider
these frames of reference, they are often not able to explain, compare, or evaluate
historical phenomena and historical agents’ actions (Reisman & Wineburg, 2008).
For example, to understand and explain the Valais witch trials between 1428 and 1447,
students need to situate these witch hunts in the isolated and mountainous border
region of France and Switzerland during the late Middle Ages (chronological and
spatial context). Furthermore, students have to consider that this region endured a
civil war from 1415 to 1419, that the clans of the nobility fought each other, and that
society was in a state of heightened tension (political, economic, and cultural context).
When historical empathy is used to promote historical contextualization, it can be seen as an interplay between an affective and cognitive element. The affective element is that students need to consider how historical agents’ lived experiences, situations, or actions may have been influenced by their affective response based on a connection made to one’s own similar yet different life experiences (Endacott & Brooks, 2013). A more cognitive element is that students need to examine the role and position of a historical agent, which includes understanding another’s prior lived experience, principles, positions, attitudes, and beliefs (Hartmann & Hasselhorn, 2008).
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