Taking a historical perspective: students’ understanding of the Turkish Alphabet Reform (November 1928)

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Historical perspective taking (HPT) stands out as an effective approach that strengthens individuals' social and political orientations, develops their moral judgments, and promotes responsible democratic citizenship. Recent research on contemporary history and social studies education shows that middle school students struggle to understand different perspectives when interpreting historical events. However, research on how students experience these difficulties is limited. In this study, we aimed to determine how the HPT process differs for 6th and 8th grade students by presenting a systematic comparison within the framework of HPT components and to develop recommendations on which pedagogical approaches may be more effective in history teaching depending on age. We conducted the study, designed as qualitative research, using a case study design. In the study, we used newspapers prepared by students to determine their HPT, standardized open-ended interview forms, and participant-observer notes as data collection tools. In analyzing the data, we made significant use of the components of the historical perspective-taking tool developed by Hartmann and Hasselhorn (Citation2008). The results of the study show that age-related variables have a significant effect on HPT.