Page 142 - Balancing between the present and the past

Chapter 6
The second lesson activity reconstructed the historical context. In each lesson, the students (in groups of four) had to reconstruct the historical context of the case using a chronological dimension (using a timeline), a spatial dimension (using geographical maps), and a socio-political, socio-economic, and socio-cultural dimension. To reconstruct the historical context, students were provided primary and secondary sources that addressed all frames of reference. Guiding questions were provided to help students examine the socio-political, socio-economic, and socio-cultural frames of reference (see Appendix F). The teachers in the experimental condition were provided the reconstructed historical context (i.e., the historical context knowledge of the different frames of reference), and each group had to present the reconstructed context to the teacher to check for correctness. For example, in the case of the exchange of New Netherland, the students received information to create a timeline of events. A geographical map of the Americas was displayed, and students were presented with historical sources that provide information on the Dutch political climate in the Dutch Republic and New Netherland around 1626, the economic importance of plantations, and the beliefs and values of different people in the 17th century. After the student groups reconstructed the context of the New Netherland exchange using the guiding questions, the teachers corrected mistakes and provided further explanation when needed.
The third lesson activity uses the historical context to explain historical phenomena. After the historical context of the case was reconstructed by the student groups, the teachers asked students in a classroom discussion again to answer the central question of the case but now while referring to their acquired historical context knowledge. Teachers explicitly stressed that considering the historical context could make students aware of their possible present-oriented perspectives while examining the past. For the case of the exchange of the colony of New Netherland, the students again had to answer the following question: “Can you explain why the Dutch Republic exchanged New Netherland for Suriname in 1626?” To answer this question, students had to, for example, compare the economic importance of Suriname (which had far more plantations and raw minerals) to the economic importance of New Netherland (which had far fewer plantations and raw minerals). At the end of this lesson activity, the teachers and students together evaluated any possible shift among the students from a present-oriented perspective towards a historically contextualized perspective.
The fourth lesson activity was a historical empathy task, where students had to study a historical agent related to the historical topic of the case. To design these
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