Teaching and Social Reform in the 1960s: Lessons from National Teacher Corps Oral Histories

Abstract

This article draws on oral history narratives to examine the beliefs and expectations that brought a group of young people to the field of teaching in the 1960s through the National Teacher Corps (NTC). The oral histories address the identities, politics, aims, and backgrounds of a dozen NTC participants. By situating the voices of these young people within a larger social and historical context, the article uses oral history testimony to reconsider existing accounts of social reform movements and teaching in the 1960s and early 1970s. Specifically, the oral histories allow Teacher Corps participants to emerge as individuals who represent an important if largely unexplored population that took part in 1960s movements toward greater equality and social justice and who embraced the unique perspective that teaching in ordinary schools serving poor and minority students could offer meaningful opportunities for grassroots, social reform activity.