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ABSTRACT
Historical empathy is crucial for understanding history. However, there are no clear guidelines for museum educators to back up their actions accordingly. This case study describes an activity developed in the Estonian Maritime Museum (Seaplane Harbour permanent exhibition) for secondary students using a historical empathy framework. The aim of the activity, “We’ll be back by Christmas” was to enact the experiences of Baltic refugees of 1944 and broaden students’ understanding about WWII events. Students and teachers were observed and interviewed. Students had vivid memories of their museum visit three months after their visit; they demonstrated that they were able to see beyond modern viewpoints and explain the actions through the eyes of historical refugees, and they felt motivated by learning in the museum. The key element for developing historical empathy in the museum seems to be meaningful collaboration with classroom teachers, as there is not enough time during a visit to cover the content deeply enough. We conclude that the historical empathy framework can help museum educators focus programming and enhance collaboration with classroom teachers.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank participating teachers, students, and museum staff for their time and effort.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
About the authors
Helene Uppin is the curator of education in Estonian Maritime Museum and a doctoral student of educational sciences in Tallinn University. Her research concentrates on the influence of social and emotional aspects of learning to problem-solving in open learning environments. She was a co-author of the museum activity under investigation.
Inge Timoštšuk Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the School of Educational Sciences at Tallinn University. She is teaching science education and courses about teaching and learning in open environment. Her recent research projects focus on the same topics, concentrating on relationship between teaching activities, students’ learning engagement and learning outcomes.
Notes
1 Endacott and Brooks, “An Updated Theoretical and Practical Model for Promoting Historical Empathy.”
2 Davis, Yeager, and Foster, Historical Empathy and Perspective Taking.
3 Doppen, “Teaching and Learning Multiple Perspectives.”
4 Endacott and Brooks, “An Updated Theoretical and Practical Model for Promoting Historical Empathy.”
5 Some examples: Davis, Yeager, and Foster, Historical Empathy and Perspective Taking; Endacott and Sturtz, “Historical Empathy and Pedagogical Reasoning” and Yilmaz, “Historical Empathy and Its Implications for Classroom Practices in Schools.”
6 Savenije and de Bruijn, “Historical Empathy in a Museum.”
7 Dillenburg, “Understanding Historical Empathy in the Classroom.”
8 Leftwich, “New Intersections for History Education in Museums.”
9 DeWitt and Storksdieck, “A Short Review of School Field Trips.”
10 Davis, Yeager, and Foster, Historical Empathy and Perspective Taking.
11 Willingham, “Critical Thinking: Why Is It So Hard to Teach?”
12 Dillenburg, “Understanding Historical Empathy in the Classroom.”
13 Currie and Sterelny, “In Defence of Story-Telling”; Sautner and Medina, “Using Storytelling to Establish Justice.”
14 Levstik, “Crossing the Empty Spaces.”
15 Leftwich, “New Intersections for History Education in Museums.”
16 Merriam, “Qualitative Research.”
17 DeWitt and Storksdieck, “A Short Review of School Field Trips.”
18 Ibid.
19 Modlin, Alderman, and Gentry, “Tour Guides as Creators of Empathy”; Riley and Totten, “Understanding Matters.”