Dialogue with the Past: Engaging Students and Meeting Standards through Oral History

Glenn Whitman

Sept 2004 · Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

About this eBook

Oral history is a marvelous force for empowering young people with a love of history. But educators today may wonder how they might use it to inspire their students while still teaching the necessary curriculum and meeting standards. In Dialogue with the Past Glenn Whitman addresses these concerns from his own rich experience and that of many other teachers and students. He helps readers understand the background and methodology of oral history, guides them in creating and conducting an oral history project in the classroom, and directly addresses the issue of meeting standards. Peppered with useful tips, examples from students and teachers, and reproducible forms, along with a comprehensive bibliography, this book will be a vital and inspirational tool for anyone working with secondary students. Visit the authors' web page

About the author

Glenn Whitman is currently history department chairman at St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland. He has been using oral history as an educational methodology with students at three independent schools since 1991. In 1997 his work with students was recognized by the Oral History Association's Pre-collegiate Teaching Award. Whitman has been active in regional and national oral history activities for many years. He has served as an At-Large board member for Oral History in the Mid-Atlantic Region and presented at the Oral History Association's annual conference. In addition to sharing his work with oral historians and educators through conferences and workshops, Whitman wrote 'Teaching Students How to Be Historians: An Oral History Project for the Pre-collegiate Classroom' (The History Teacher, Fall 2000).