Oral History as an Educational Experience

"Oral history is the search for a connection between biography and history…. Oral history is the creation of something new!"

—Dr. Alessandro Portelli, University of Rome

Defining Oral History

Oral history is a method of research that seeks to preserve the memories of individuals who shaped or participated in the events of the past. Through informed and empathetic interviewing, the oral historian creates information about the famous and the obscure, about events in daily life and those of international consequence.

Oral history interviews are like fingerprints.

Defining Oral History as an Educational Methodology  

Oral history incorporated into the educational setting is a method of teaching that accepts the principles of creating and utilizing recorded interviews for the purposes of instruction. Research and surveys have shown that four major cognitive and affective goals can be met through well-planned oral history courses, projects, and programs:

• course content acquisition
• skill development

• student motivation
• subject appreciation

To accomplish these aims, oral history can be applied by involving students in two pedagogical approaches, both of which engage them in higher-level thinking, the pursuit of historical investigation, the interpretation of data, and the presentation of products derived from the research.

• Active Oral History: conducting oral history interviews
• Passive Oral History: conducting research and learning from oral history interviews

Oral history education, while continuing to evolve, is proven to address educational mandates in meaningful and profound ways. Oral history educators contend that this form of instruction can make a difference by providing an improved method of instructional delivery while inspiring young minds to become enthused and enlightened learners. While no method of instruction is a panacea, oral history provides creative alternatives for progressive educators who thrive on the cutting edge of their profession.

1. Oral history brings the social studies curriculum to life as students realize that they are surrounded by, and are part of, the creation of history. Oral history makes learning memorable.
2. Oral history is interactive and can put the student in the center of learning.
3. Oral history supports cognitive development and affective instruction.
4. Oral history supports Common Core in a creative and motivational fashion.
5. Oral history supports close reading, research and oral language skills.
6. Oral history develops strong oral language skills, which are an essential prerequisite to developing the ability to write well. 
7. Oral history encourages historical (and higher-level) thinking as students develop questioning and interviewing strategies; make judgments about the point of view of the person(s) interviewed; and analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the information from the interview or written documentation.
8. An oral history experience provides a personal biography to a random set of statistics, dates, and facts.
9. Oral history helps students develop empathy. 

Through myriad instructional strategies, the following historical thinking skills can be integrated into oral history research and oral history products. 

• use of primary sources, maps, visual sources/photographs
• use of literary and/or musical sources
• comparison of differing sets of ideas, values, personalities, behaviors, and institutions
• consideration of multiple perspectives
• comparison of competing historical narratives
• analysis of cause and effect relationships
• analysis of multiple causation
• historical filtering 
• analysis of bias/the rationale for bias

By using oral history methodology and other instructional strategies, students should create an oral history interview that captures the “what” and the “so what” of history. (The content of history and the significance of history). By doing so, students can use historical thinking skills to analyze and interpret the primary source document created and develop an oral history product.

How would I use oral history in my classroom?

• Main purpose: Content, skill development, motivation, subject appreciation
• Develop a topic/theme
• Employ active/passive use of oral history
• Create potential sources of interviewees
• For student instruction:
  • To what standards would I relate oral history instruction?
  • What partnerships/community resources would I develop?
  • How much time should be devoted to an oral history project: a term, a semester, or a full year?
  • In what ways would I connect oral history with historical thinking skills and the construction of student narratives? 
  • What potential primary source documents would I consider using to support instruction of the selected theme? What passive oral history sources would I use?
  • What products would I have students develop? 
  • How would I use technology to develop and support oral history processes and products?
  • What assessments would I develop for the processes and products of oral history?
  • How could the products benefit the school / community?  How would I disseminate the final products?
  • How would I archive/preserve the final oral history products?
  • Other questions and considerations?

The four jobs of an oral historian

1. Create an oral history interview and find primary source documents.
2. Analyze the information collected and/or created.
3. Interpret the information collected and/or created.
4. Preserve and publicize the completed research.

(Create a primary source interview and a new interpretation/perspective)

The ten steps of student oral history research

1. Select an interview topic.
2. Conduct basic research.
3. Find a person or persons to interview.
4. Schedule and complete a preliminary interview (to establish rapport, share information about the interview and obtain photographs/artifacts that can be copied and documented).
5. Develop a question outline.
6. Research! Research! Research!
7. Develop a final question outline and set an interview date.
8. Conduct the interview and secure permission (legal deed of gift).
9. Write a thank you note to the interviewee.
10. Analyze your interview and complete the assigned paperwork/project.

Fundamental techniques of oral history interviewing

Oral history interviews can focus on the following

• Biographical content
• Thematic content
• Hybrid content (combining biographical and thematic content)

Types of oral history questions

• Opinion questions (subjective questions)
• Factual questions (objective questions)
• Documentary questions (used to document validity, reliability, and subtext)

Structures of oral history questions

• Open questions:   Who?  What?  When?  Where?  How?  Explain…
• Closed questions:  Did you?  In what year?  Yes or no questions

Research and questions can focus on the 7 C’s

• Before the oral history interview: Content, Chronology, Causation/s, Context
• After the oral history interview: Corroboration of data, Constructing a “narrative” (written, video or oral), and Creating something new

Additional oral history interview tips   

• Ask one question at a time: Give appropriate “wait” time.
• Use historical empathy. (Ask non-biased questions.)
• Use follow-up questions. (Ask the interview to explain.)
• Listen to the interviewee. (Ask the interview to define terms.)
• Take notes during the interview.

Ways in which to find Vietnam veterans for oral history interview

• Ask family, friends and people you know in the community.
• Write an article for the local paper. Write an announcement for local radio or cable stations.
• Contact local military organizations such as the VFW, VA, military museums, etc.
• Post signs on bulletin boards (libraries, grocery stores, etc.).
• Develop a network of associates and people who can help find Vietnam veterans.

Develop core questions with the entire class

• Have the students develop a list of questions that will be asked to all Vietnam veterans.
• By doing so, students can analyze the varied responses and interpret the data collected.

Interview categories for an oral history interview with a Vietnam veteran

• Introduction 
• Life before the military
• Reasons for enlistment or the draft
• Initial induction into the military
• Basic training/training for MOS
• Assignment in the U.S.
• Orders to Vietnam/initial reactions
• Non-combat experiences in Vietnam
• Combat experiences in Vietnam
• Personal relationships in Vietnam
• Leaving Vietnam
• Coming back home
• Assessing the Vietnam experience
• “Legacy” questions
• Conclusion

Each category should have multiple questions. Follow-up questions should be asked.  

Sub-themes that can be discussed with Vietnam veterans

• “Flashbulb moments” (Memories that are burned into the brain.)
• The study of turning points
• Compare and contrast different accounts during the same conflict
• Compare and contrast different conflicts
• Making connections with the present, then and now
• Issue analysis: studying different sides and justifying a position
• The “what if” scenarios of history
• A study of the progression of technology from 1941 to the present
• What does it mean to be a hero? (The rights and freedoms we enjoy are not accidents.)
• “The changing face of a hero” (the change in the ethnic and racial composition)
• The inclusion of the women in war from 1941 to the present
• The military’s role in advancing equal rights

Photographic analysis using oral history interviewing techniques

During the preliminary interview or before the oral history interview, have the interviewee select five to ten photographs that best represents his/her tour of duty in Vietnam. Have the interviewee bring those photographs with them during the interview. If the interviewee can obtain copies of the photographs, that will expedite the oral history process during the recorded interview. 

For each photograph, have the students ask the Vietnam veteran the following:

• Why did you select this photograph as one of your most important photographs of Vietnam?
• What are the date, time, and location of the photograph?
• Who are the people in the photograph?
• What event does the photograph depict? 
• What was the significance of the event?
• What equipment appears in the photograph?
• Do any unique items appear in the photograph?
• Does the photograph include any signs, vocabulary, or terms that may be relevant?
• What was the impact of this event (personal and overall)?

After the interview, have the students corroborate the factual data by researching

• The veteran’s DD-214
• The veteran’s general orders
• The veteran’s decorations, badges, and citations
• Photographic analysis
• Compare statements with other class interviewees
• Compare statements from interviewees found in archives on the internet
• Compare the factual content of the interview with credible publications
• Compare the factual content of the interview with published statistics
• Compare the factual content of the interview with published photos
• Determine if the factual information obtained in the interview was accurate  
  • provide documentation to support your assessment
• Determine if the interviewee was a reliable source
• provide documentation to support this assessment

An extended learning experience about Vietnam

• Have the students analyze their interview in relation to other oral history accounts.
• From the analysis, have the students develop interpretations about the following themes:
  • Different eras in Vietnam and how combat changed
  • How combat was different in the various regions in Vietnam
  • How experiences compared and contrasted between the military services
  • Compare combat in the air and on the ground
  • Compare combat and non-combat experiences

Ways to demonstrate appreciation for the veterans who were interviewed

• Produce and present Challenge Coins to the Vietnam veterans
• Develop and present student letters of appreciation to the Vietnam veterans
• Honor the Vietnam veterans in the school and the community
• Have students continue their association with their interviewee through letters, cards, emails and/or phone calls

Depending on the curriculum, standards, and educational mandates, the following are some suggestions for the development of oral history products.

The oral history interview portfolio 

Portfolios may include: a title page, deed of gift, project abstract (250 words), photographs of the interviewee and interviewer, transcript or partial transcript, indexes, definition of terms, historical interpretation of the interview (three to five pages), appendices, and labeled copies of the digital recording or digital video. Note: criteria can be altered depending on the archival institution. 

Additional oral history products

• Student presentations (presented in school and in the community)   
• PowerPoint presentations
• Digital history videos
• An interpretive paper on various aspects of the oral history interview
• A newspaper or magazine article
• A cable television presentation
• The creative use of oral history quotes from several interviews
  • Example: Any war that you fight, whether it’s on the ground or in the air… Friendships that are bound through blood and war can’t be duplicated…there was a feeling of patriotism in those days…it was your duty. General Robert Cardenas, USAF, WWII, Vietnam
• Student presentations incorporating multi-disciplinary experiences 
• Student-developed theatrical play using oral history content
• Oral history presentations (Students recount oral history stories and/or portray the interviewee using direct quotes.)

Notes

• Be creative in developing ways in which students can extend their skills of analysis, interpretation, and their ability to create something new.   
• The above suggestions include oral history products that focus on written, oral, and visual assignments, which accommodate different learning styles and academic strengths.

Some points to consider when developing assessment criteria

• What components are going to be assessed (process and product[s])?
• What criteria are you going to use (based on the curriculum and Common Core)?
• What methods are you going to use (letter grades, points, rubrics, etc.)?

Components of the oral history experience that may be evaluated

• The preparatory research process and finding an interviewee
• The preliminary interview and the extended research
• The oral history interview 
• The oral history portfolio
• Oral history products in written, oral or media formats 

Methods of assessing the oral history process and product

• Teacher evaluation (Also a team of teachers who have participated)
• Student: self evaluation
• Student: peer evaluation
• Evaluation by organizations participating in the oral history experience

The student interviewers can be asked to address the following assessment questions in oral, written and/or media formats

• What was the most significant fact you learned about Vietnam?
• What did you learn about human nature? 
• What did you learn about the military?   
• What did you learn about the bonds that develop between soldiers?
• What did you learn about history and the processes of history?   
• What respect did you develop for veterans? 
• In what ways did you change your initial impressions of Vietnam? Vietnam veterans?

Students can also study the following issues about Vietnam through the perspectives of their interviewee and then compare and contrast the interviewee’s statements with published sources.

• Some topics that can be researched are:
  • Military technology
  • Military communications
  • Personal communications (with family/friends, etc.)
  • Safety issues
  • Medical issues
  • The role of the media
  • The ways in which the soldiers were treated by the military
  • The ways in which the civilian population was treated by the military
  • The age, education, and demographics of soldiers
  • The “appreciation” of soldiers 
  • The experience returning home

The assignment may also have the students compare and contrast Vietnam experiences with contemporary military engagements.

Note: The student should justify and document their responses using historical thinking skills and high-order thought processes.

If all the steps in an oral history experience, preservation of the oral history interviews is usually the least developed component. This is often attributed to cost, the lack of archival expertise, and the inability to find an organization willing to catalogue and preserve the oral history materials. It is imperative to consider this important element to safeguard and disseminate the oral history interviews produced.

Student components that can be preserved

• The oral history recording (audio or video)
• Transcript or written summary of the interview with index
• Legal agreement and other paperwork
• A student research portfolio 

Organizations that can be considered for preservation

• State archives, colleges and universities, local historical societies, and specialized organizations relating to the theme of the interviews such as military museums.

Suggestions for teachers and students who are interested in archiving oral history interviews

• If a teacher and/or a student intends to donate an oral history interview or a collection of interviews to an organization for preservation, a person of authority from the organization should be consulted in before the project begins. Thus, the librarian or archivist can provide specific guidance for the creation and organization of required documentation.

In addition to the above advice, the following techniques are normal archival procedures:

• For each interview, students should develop a document listing the interviewee's name; date of interview; location of interview (if relevant); and a brief list of key events, dates, or subjects covered in the interview. File names of all documents, pictures, and audio-visual files relating to the interview should also be created and will become an inventory. The data on an inventory is best collected on a spreadsheet such as Excel or GoogleSheets. 
• If the student has collected copies of photographs or documents and has permission to include them in an archive, the student should create a file folder for each interviewee. The student should also record information about the documents, photos, or artifacts on the spreadsheet inventory such as the subject matter, date, and information about the collection of the item. 
• Along with a written legal release, students should ask the interviewee on the record (video or audio recording) if he or she consents to the interview and having the interview archived. Copies of any paper release forms signed by interviewees should be included along with the transfer of any materials to an archive.
• If a transcript of the oral history interview is produced, an archive may be able to put electronic transcripts into a format that allows for keyword searches.

(The above archival suggestions were provided by Ms. Maria M. Day, Director of Special Collections, Maryland State Archives.)

Oral History Education, Oral History Standards, Oral History Interviews, and Military Themes

• Columbia University: Oral History Research Office  (A leading university oral history program and oral history collection.)   
• Maryland Veterans: A Journey through Vietnam, Maryland Humanities (Example student interview with Vietnam veteran.)  
• Oral History Association (Oral history standards, legal issues and oral history education)
• Rutgers Oral History Collection: Vietnam Interviews (Oral history interviews with Vietnam veterans)
• The Distinguished Flying Cross Society (Example oral history videos with DFC recipients who served in Vietnam.)
• The Oral History Project of the Vietnam Archive: Vietnam Center and Archive (A leading source of oral history interviews with Vietnam veterans.) 
• Veterans History Project (The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center collects, preserves and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans.)  
• Maryland Veterans: A Journey through Vietnam, Maryland Humanities (Example student interview with Vietnam veterans.)  
• Veterans Speak: War, Trauma and the Humanities

Dunaway, David K., and Willa K. Baum, eds. Oral History: An Interdisciplinary Anthology. Second Edition, Nashville, TN: AltaMira Press, 1997.

• The sole source for a wide range of articles about oral history as a research method.

Lanman, Barry A. and Laura M. Wendling. Preparing the Next Generation of Oral Historians: An Anthology of Oral History Education. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2006.

• A unique source containing articles by over thirty experts on the field of oral history education.

Ritchie, Donald A. Doing Oral History. Third Edition, Cary, NC. Oxford Press, 2016.

• An excellent introductory text on how to conduct an oral history interview and how to develop oral history products.

Whitman, Glenn, Dialogue with the Past: Engaging Students and Meeting Standards Through Oral History, Lanham, MD. AltaMira Press, 2004.

• A book produced by a high school teacher that outlines many curricular strategies in a multi-disciplinary setting. Oral history processes and products are discussed in detail.

Wood, Linda P. Oral History Projects in Your Classroom, Oral History Association Pamphlet Series, Cary, NC. Oxford Press, 2001.

• A pamphlet written by a high school teacher with practical ideas on oral history as an educational methodology.

The oral history content was created by Dr. Barry A. Lanman and Dr. Laura M. Wendling

Copyright and intellectual rights to the material contained in this website is owned by Dr. Barry A. Lanman and Dr. Laura M. Wendling. The material may be used by teachers for educational purposes with appropriate credit. This page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.   

Sponsoring and Supporting Organizations

• National Endowment for the Humanities
• Maryland Humanities
• The Martha Ross Center for Oral History, University of Maryland Baltimore County
• The New Media Studio, University of Maryland Baltimore County
• The Signature Program, Southern High School, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Maryland
• The Maryland State Archives

A Special Thanks to:

• Ms. Jennifer Davidson, Southern High School, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Maryland
• Ms. Meghan Hryniewicz, Director, The Signature Program, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, MD.
• Ms. Judy Dobbs, Maryland Humanities
• Dr. Phoebe Stein, Director, Maryland Humanities
• Mr. Dustin Roddy, The New Media Studio, UMBC
• Ms. Maria A. Day, Director, Special Collections, Maryland State Archives