The case for empathy in the history classroom

This article argues that empathy has an important place in the history classroom and can contribute to the aims of The New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007). The article examines the concept of empathy from both an affective and cognitive angle. It proposes that empathy is linked to The New Zealand Curriculum in the affective domain through the key competency relating to others and cognitively through the Social Sciences learning area’s focus on understanding people’s perspectives. The article also examines differing ways of conceptualising empathy within history education and seeks to explain what these might mean for practice.