A research to determine primary school students' ability to establish historical empathy with National Struggle hereos

Historical empathy is the ability to understand the feelings and thoughts of people living in the past in accordance with the conditions of the period. This study aimed to examine primary school students' experiences of establishing historical empathy with the heroes of the War of Independence. The study group of the research consisted of 30 students studying in private and public primary schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education located in Afyonkarahisar city center in the 2021-2022 academic year. The research is a qualitative study and was designed in a phenomenology pattern. A semistructured interview form was used as a data collection tool in the research, and the data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The data obtained was analyzed in accordance with the content analysis technique. The findings were tabulated and presented with frequencies and supported with direct quotations. As a result of the research, primary school students' historical empathy experiences with Mustafa Kemal Pasha at the beginning of the War of Independence; It has been determined that they use the emotions of stress, excitement, fear, pride, joy and sadness, and make decisions such as trying to awaken national consciousness, fighting for the liberation of the homeland, increasing the number of soldiers and making plans on how to win. It was concluded that students were influenced by the heroes of the War of Independence for reasons such as being self-sacrificing, brave, fighting at a young age and being strong. In the empathy stories created by the students towards the heroes of the War of Independence; It has been determined that they emphasized the difficulties they experienced during the war, the struggle they gave and the courage they showed and their heroism. After the empathetic stories they created, they defined the War of Independence through feelings of happiness, pride, sadness and anxiety, and touched upon the limitations of opportunities during the war period. They emphasized the patriotism, sacrifice, determination and courage of the heroes of the War of Independence. Keywords: Historical empathy, social studies teaching, primary school student, National Struggle, history teaching.