“From a Vibrant City to a Warzone”: Shostakovich's 7th Symphony as a means to foster historical understanding through empathy

Abstract

Scholars have long pointed to the power of music as a primary source in instruction for bringing past actors into sharper view and engender deeper connections with the past. By employing Dimitri Shostakovich's 7th Symphony, composed amidst the Nazi siege of Leningrad during the Second World War, we sought to explore, more precisely, the nature of how music, as a primary source, enhances the study of history among students. Through the formulation, execution, and assessment of a two-day lesson with students in five secondary history classes, three of which listened to the symphony and two of which did not, we found that the incorporation of the symphony resulted in students’ enhanced empathetic understanding of the past. Implications include details regarding profound opportunities for, as well as challenges to, cultivating historical empathy through the use of music as a primary source.

Peran Empati dalam Pengajaran Sejarah

“…Sedangkan sejarah peperangan, mayoritas studi empiris tentang empati sejarah merujuk pada Perang Dunia Pertama dan Kedua (Davison, 2017;Endacott, 2014;Innes & Sharp, 2021;Jun, 2020;Pellegrino, d'Erizans, & Adragna, 2018;Rantala, 2011;Savenije & de Bruijn, 2017). Misalnya, ada lebih banyak penelitian yang meneliti pemahaman empati peserta didik terhadap keputusan Presiden Truman untuk menjatuhkan dua bom atom di Jepang pada tahun 1945 dibandingkan topik lainnya (Doppen, 2000;Endacott, 2014;Yeager & Doppen, 2001) atau Chamberlain yang menenangkan Hitler (Foster, 1999).…”