From Identification to Affective Mentalization: Historical Empathy, Inquirer Positionality and the Consequences of Their Convergence Through Inquiry Experience

The literature on historical empathy is clear about the importance of fostering students’ engagement with historical figures’ positionalities, though the nature of that engagement remains less settled. This descriptive qualitative study examined the proposition that deeper understanding of the convergences between inquirer positionality and historical empathy could reveal nuanced considerations for engagement and instruction. Participants included thirty preservice teachers in a secondary social studies methods course who completed an inquiry-based historical empathy experience focused on lived experiences during the Vietnam war. Operationalization and analysis of inquirer positionality was theoretically framed by John Dewey’s pragmatic theory of transactional constructivism, while the conceptual framework for historical empathy employed the interrelated aspects of historical contextualization, perspective taking, and affective connections as an underlying structure that was bolstered by recent empirical findings and additive constructs from social empathy. Analysis revealed four overarching themes in participants’ engagement in historical empathy and resultant historical understanding: 1) Identification & Self-Other Awareness; 2) Contextualized Historical Perspectivity & Affective Considerations; 3) Reflexive Historical Perspectivity & Affective Resonance; and 4) Affective Mentalization & Macro Self-Other Awareness. Discussion focuses on each theme’s unique contribution to historical empathy, potential implications for instruction, and the consequences of historical empathy as an inquiry-based transactional experience.