Page 69 - Balancing between the present and the past

However, most of the students (n = 30) were aware of their possible present-oriented perspective when attempting to explain Hannes’ actions. Many students applied their chronological knowledge to emphasize that the information we have now was not available to Hannes at that time. For example, Ryan noted that the scenario was set before the start of the Second World War, and thus, Hannes could not have known the consequences of Hitler’s rise to power:
The source states that the scenario is set in 1930. Hitler became the political 3 leader of Germany in 1933? I do think so. Hannes is living in 1930, and Hitler
became the leader a few years later so he could vote for the NSDAP in 1930,
right? Because he does not know what Hitler has done to the world. (Ryan,
reasoning about Item 1)
Another example of the awareness of a present-oriented perspective through the use of chronological knowledge was detected when students reasoned about Item 3 (“He will not vote for the NSDAP as their ideas are highly transparent. It is clear that this party wants war.”) and concluded that we now know the outcome of the political rise of Hitler, but that people in the past did not have access to this knowledge in the 1930s:
I do not think that he knows that the NSDAP might want a Second World War because this scenario is set in 1930. I think that in 1930 he easily could not know that the NSDAP wanted a war. He really could not know it. (Paul, reasoning about Item 3)
3.5.2.2 Historical empathy
Of the sampled students, 22 students made 49 affective connections with the historical agent (Hannes) as they explained his actions. In their reasoning, these students included arguments based on recognizable situations and emotions. They seemed to interpret or translate the historical situation into a situation that they could experience today. For example, Mark attempted to explain Hannes’ decision by describing a more contemporary situation that he himself could experience as he reasoned about Item 4 (“As a member of a wealthy family, he would like to return to the German Empire as his family was better off. Therefore, he will vote for an anti- democratic party.”):
Contextualizing historical agents’ actions
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