Historical empathy in future primary teachers: the child labor in the 19th century

Abstract

This piece of research studies how the emotional factor is entailed in the development of the historical empathy and, therefore, in the understanding of history, in a sample of 164 future teachers. This is a highly contentious issue between those in favor of the role played by affections and those against it. Thus, a contradictory activity about the child labor in the 19th century is strategically used since the affective component is implicated in the interpretation of the context. To fulfill this goal, the research is based on a qualitative paradigm, specifically an interpreting process of the narratives of the informants with the ATLAS.ti software. The systematization of the answers is carried out in four progressive categories from a conditioned perspective by the present to an understanding, or even a recreation, of a different social world. The results show that only a small group of students provide contextualized explanations. Conversely, the rest of participants link their interpretation to a presentism emotional framework. In conclusion, the emotional factor, when it contravenes the current system of values, it does not encourage the understanding of historical circumstances that explain child labor in past times.