Page 119 - Balancing between the present and the past

History teachers and historical contextualization
the historical context of the democratic revolutions instead of reconstructing the historical context herself:
Kim: The Dutch Revolution. If you look at the specific time when it happened, why is that name strange?
Student A: The Netherlands did not yet exist at that time.
Kim: What was the name of the Netherlands back then?
Student A: The Dutch Republic.
Kim: Excellent. And what was the relationship between the Enlightenment
and the Democratic Revolutions?
Student B: They started thinking about the best type of government, and they
wished to be independent in the case of the American Revolution.
Kim: And what is the relationship with the Enlightenment? How did the people
of the Enlightenment view society?
Student C: They wanted equality between people. 5
Lisa, who obtained the highest score in reconstructing the historical context by herself (demonstrating), obtained a far lower score in encouraging students to reconstruct the historical context. This may have been caused by the fact that she did ask questions in her lessons but often answered these questions herself. For example, she asked in one lesson: “Why did the Netherlands and other European countries want so many colonies? What were the reasons?” She, however, answered these questions herself instead of asking the students to provide an answer. The other teachers in the sample also answered their own questions. Moreover, Lisa could have asked the students to create a timeline with historical events relating to Western colonialism from 1600 to 1800 to create a chronological context instead of providing the chronological context herself.
5.5.4.2 Enhancing historical empathy
Lisa and Dylan used historical empathy the most in their lessons, particularly by presenting historical agents relevant to the historical topic under study. For example, when talking about the consequences of the French Revolution, Dylan explained and described the life and role of Napoleon. When explaining 18th-century slavery, he described the life of a 14-year-old slave who worked on a plantation to illustrate the contextual circumstances. Compared to the other teachers, Lisa moved into the past often, for example, to explain why the Netherlands needed colonies:
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