Using Oral History to Engage
Students
Presented at HTAV Middle Years
Conference
Focus of this presentation
• Rationale
• Teaching historical skills
• Teaching historical content
Rationale
• Student engagement
• “Doing” the subject
• Interpersonal skills
Teaching Historical Skills
• Identify a range of questions about the past to
inform a historical inquiry
• Draw conclusions about the usefulness of
sources
• Identify and describe points of view, attitudes
and values in primary and secondary sources
Teaching Historical Skills continued
• Develop texts, particularly descriptions and
explanations that use evidence from a range
of sources that are acknowledged
• Use a range of communication forms (oral,
graphic, written) and digital technologies
(Years 7-8)
• Identify and analyse the perspectives of
people from the past (Year 9)
Teaching Historical Content
• World War Two
– The experiences of Australians during World War
II
– The impact of World War II, with a particular
emphasis on the Australian home front, including
the changing roles of women and use of wartime
government controls
• (ACARA n.d.)
Teaching Historical Content continued
• Popular culture
• Migration experiences
Breakdown of Unit
• Hook
• Explanation of the term
• Show model of an Oral History
Breakdown of Unit
• Assignments
– Oral History project
– PowerPoint presentation
on process
– Reflective essay
Scaffolding
• Explanation of types of questions
– Closed
– Open
– Follow-on
• Modelling Active Listening
Scaffolding continued
• Use of artefacts
Scaffolding continued
• Bloopers exercise
• Mock interview
• Fishbowl interview
Scaffolding continued
• Model transcribing interview
• Model editing transcript into an oral history
• Basic grammar
Other activities
• Jeopardy game
• Scattergories game
Remember to…
• Teach the necessary language features
– Temporal connectives
– Chronological order
– Paragraphing
– Consistent use of past tense when recounting
– Use of first person
• Be passionate!
Webpage for Rules for Scattergories
• http://www.slideshare.net/lorinchina/scatterg
ories-7100514
Bibliography
• Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (n.d.). The
Australian Curriculum v 6.0 History Foundation to Year 10 Curriculum by
Rows. Retrieved July 2, 2014, from
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanitiesandsocialsciences/his
tory/Curriculum/F-10#level7.
• Independent Television Service. (2004). Independent lens: The new
Americans. Retrieved July 2, 2014, from http://wwwtc.pbs.org/independentlens/newamericans/pdfs/tna9_oralhistory.pdf.
• Paul, P.J. (1997). Fish bowls and bloopers: Oral history in the classroom.
OAH Magazine of History, 11 (3), 43-46. Retrieved December 21, 2009,
from http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/oralhistory/paul.pdf.
• Pchakjian, O. (2003). Interview with my grandfather- Sarkis Aivazian.
Retrieved July 2, 2014, from
http://www.clarkhumanities.org/oralhistory/2003/8367.htm.
Picture Credits
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http://primarysourcenexus.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/interviewgraphic.jpg
http://www.brown.edu/academics/public-humanities/sites/brown.edu.academics.publichumanities/files/imagecache/event_feature_image/Screen%20shot%202013-03-11%20at%2011.43.46%20AM.png
http://img.antiquesreporter.com.au/080819CLME/1910.jpg
http://nicolepaulson.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Mazotti-Family-Nicole-Paulson-Photography_001-copy.jpg
http://buildingvocabularyiseasy.wikispaces.com/file/view/clip-art0020.jpg/266866400/224x184/clip-art0020.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit-Proof_Fence_(film)#mediaviewer/File:Rabbit-Proof_Fence_movie_poster.jpg
http://naa.gov.au/Images/Italian%20migrants%2011339844_tcm16-46760.jpg
http://www.madle.org/eec03e.htm
http://www.clker.com/cliparts/f/r/z/C/i/V/cloths-hook-md.png
http://www.bindoonmuseum.com.au/cms/images/bindoon_museum/interview_inside.jpg
http://wirecuttertexas.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/OralHistoryProjectDoorAtADAPTPhoto.jpg
http://www.guidingtech.com/assets/postimages/2013/01/PowerPoint-Logo.png
http://www.wordspin.dk/files/2011/08/Oops_road_sign.jpg
http://www.hireosugrads.com/Zmages/Events-Tiles-MID-Stillwater.jpg
http://comps.canstockphoto.com/can-stock-photo_csp15402499.jpg
http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/4f/59/1333648688_jeopardy.jpg?itok=YRM_zkJr
http://cdn.slidesharecdn.com/ss_thumbnails/scattergories-110301053609-phpapp01-thumbnail-4.jpg?cb=1298979464
http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico//sources/Cover.gif