Alternative Application of Oral History in the Secondary Classroom - Article 3

Oct 15, 2026

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Alternative Application of Oral History in the Secondary Classroom examines why secondary history instruction often remains textbook-centered despite evidence that oral history can increase engagement and rigor. The article argues that many teachers find oral history unapproachable due to perceived intimidation and implementation risk. Using accounts from veteran Jim Walch and supplementary unpublished memoirs, it proposes alternative oral history activities designed to help social studies teachers broaden strategies beyond traditional textbook instruction.

LanguageEnglish

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Pages12

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Educational Considerations: Historical Perspectives

Article 3: Alternative Application of Oral History in the Secondary Classroom

Educational Considerations | Volume 47
Number 2 Historical Perspectives | Article 3 | | --- | --- | | November 2021
Alternative Application of Oral History in the Secondary Classroom
Alan English
Bethany College-Lindsborg, [englishae@bethanylb.edu](englishae@bethanylb.edu)
Follow this and additional works at: [https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations](https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations)
Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Oral History Commons, Secondary Education Commons, and the United States History Commons

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. | | Recommended Citation English, Alan (2021) "Alternative Application of Oral History in the Secondary Classroom," Educational Considerations: Vol. 47: No. 2. [https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.2249](https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.2249) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Considerations by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please [contact](contact cads@k-state.edu)[ cads@k-state.edu](contact cads@k-state.edu). Alternative Application of Oral History in the Secondary Classroom Alan English Secondary history teachers have long complained that student disengagement is one of the greatest struggles of their profession (Cowgill, 2015; Larson, 2000) . In turn, researchers have long theorized and demonstrated that teachers’ over-reliance on textbooks contributes to secondary students’ disengagement (Crocco, 1998 ; Engle, 2003 ; Martell & Hashimoto-Martell, 2011; McNaught, 2005 ; Reisman, 2012) . More recently, Loewen (2018) reported from his observations not only that textbooks remain the central means of instruction in the high school history class, but that it has widely made high school students hate history (p. 11) . In addition to being linked to students’ disengagement from and aversion to history, textbooks have often been critiqued for their lack of academic rigor (Stern, 2005; Tarman & Kuran, 2015) . Despite these critiques, the textbook remains the central means of instruction in high school history classrooms. One solution that I have found useful in my teaching is the implementation of oral history, in which a student,“collects memories and personal commentaries of historical significance through recorded interviews”(Ritchie, 2003, p. 19) . While oral history can be a more engaging, rigorous alternative to textbooks, it has also failed to emerge as a mainstream means of instruction in the secondary classroom. Here, I theorize that this failure of emergence into the mainstream teaching methodology is due to the fact that many secondary history teachers, undoubtedly accustomed to textbook instruction, find oral history to be unapproachable, intimidating, and too risky for their consistent implementation. With that theory in mind, I offer here examples of alternatives to traditional oral history methodology collected from the accounts of Jim Walch, a WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War veteran who “retired” as a Red Cross emergency relief worker into his 80’s. Walch’s accounts were collected from two interviews I conducted with him in his home as well as subsequent telephone interviews and conversations. To augment Walch’s accounts, I was able to use his unpublished memoirs, Horses, Helicopters, and Hurricanes. My aim here is to use Walch’s accounts and the provided alternative oral history activities as a means to encourage social studies teachers to explore strategies beyond traditional textbook instruction in order to increase engagement and rigor in the classroom. Oral History It has been well-demonstrated that oral history can be an effective methodology in secondary history classrooms. For example, oral history has been shown to be effective at reaching youth that a

FAQs

Why do textbooks remain central in secondary history classes?

The article notes that even with critiques, textbooks persist as the standard tool, and reports that many students come to hate history when instruction relies on them.

What does the article identify as a reason oral history is not widely adopted?

It theorizes that teachers accustomed to textbook instruction may find oral history intimidating, unapproachable, and too risky to implement consistently.

How does the author plan to encourage teachers to explore alternatives?

The author uses Jim Walch’s accounts and provided alternative oral history activities to offer strategies beyond traditional textbook instruction, aiming to increase engagement and rigor.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by acoobca