Oral histories are a powerful pedagogical tool in developing historical understanding and important learning skills simultaneously. Teachers use firsthand accounts of historical time periods and/or events to help develop students' sense of history. In addition to gaining historical understanding, students are able to bring history alive by…

A long-running collaboration between Kaurna people and linguists in South Australia began in 1989 with a songbook. Following annual community workshops and the establishment of teaching programs, the author embarked on a PhD to research historical sources and an emerging modern language based on these sources. In response to numerous requests for…

Holocaust education requires teachers to carefully determine which instructional approaches ensure effective teaching of the subject while avoiding potential difficulties. The article identifies several complicating factors that must be considered when making pedagogical decisions. It then examines five methodological approaches that can be used…

Colorado Women's College (CWC), a private, Baptist college for women in Denver, Colorado, first welcomed students to its campus in 1909, making it one of only a handful of women's colleges in the American West, where coeducation predominated. This dissertation describes and interprets the curriculum offered at CWC in the period from 1909 to 1967.…

In this article, the author describes the thought process that led him to challenge his preservice teachers to develop and teach lesson plans based on photographs from their family records. Using oral history related to these pictures, it was possible for them to help their students learn, empathize with, and understand the existence of the…

Discusses methods for increasing students' appreciation of and interest in history by incorporating the human element into the narrative. Suggests that this can be accomplished by utilizing diaries, journals, oral histories, and living people. Argues that the brief coverage of events presented in texts does little to give students a feeling of the…

Oral history is a valuable teaching technique to use with elementary students because it provides a sense of self-identity; nurtures a concept of neighborhood; develops research and writing skills; and encourages a sense of curiosity, wonder, and excitement about history. Suggestions for beginning an elementary oral history project are presented.…

Contends that oral history projects are an effective way of teaching history. Provides suggestions on setting up an oral history project, selecting topics, conducting background research, and conducting interviews. Includes a bibliography of resources for both students and teachers. (CFR)

Participants in an undergraduate oral history project interview Vietnam veterans in their locality as primary source material for a course in Southeast Asian history. (DE)

High school students can study the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt using primary and secondary sources, including biographies, autobiographies, diaries, interviews, and memoirs. Afterwards, students should prepare their own evaluative essays on Roosevelt. This approach will help them to understand a highly complex president. (CS)

The process of teaching history is influenced not only by the theorists and writers working from the top down, but also by the changing nature and characteristics of the students who work their changes on the historical process from the bottom up. Techniques for making history relevant to students are discussed. (RM)

Presents suggestions for teaching activities and student projects using Franklin Roosevelt's war address following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Recommends vocabulary emphasis, class discussion, and classroom listening to a recording of the speech. Suggests comparing the speech to Patrick Henry's famous speech and interviewing individuals…

Discusses the need for an Indian point of view in Indian studies programs. Describes and evaluates a graduate seminar on American Indian history at the University of Nebraska which combined oral history with more traditional historical methodology. For journal availability, see so 506 696. (DB)

History instructors working in a community college face two major challenges. First, to make history interesting and relevant to the students, many of whom have to take history courses as a requirement. And second, to fulfill one of the missions of a community college which is to forge a connection between the school and the people in the local…

Discusses a field trip to Lucan, Ontario to research the story of the Donnelly family murders of 1880. Describes sites visited, student activities, and contacts made with local individuals familiar with the story. Includes class follow-up activities. Provides an activity on cemeteries and examines educational benefits. (RW)