Views of Omani Social Studies Teachers about Using Oral History in the Classroom

Ahmed Hamad Al-Rabaani

doi:10.5539/ass.v11n22p58

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the views of Omani social studies teachers about using oral history in the classroom. Data was collected using a questionnaire that was distributed to 315 randomly selected social studies teachers from urban and rural areas, with 135 male and 180 female teachers included in the study. The results showed that social studies teachers believe strongly in the importance of oral history in the classroom and think that it can be applied in several ways. Teachers also believe, however, that there are a number of obstacles to the use of oral history in Omani schools and they suggest, first, that teachers should be given training to overcome these, and second, that the social studies curriculum be developed so that it will be easier to include oral history in the courses. The survey also revealed that teachers’ views are affected by their gender and experience, with female and older teachers believing more strongly in the importance of oral history than male and younger teachers.

Highlights

Social studies teachers in many countries face difficulties when trying to develop students’ understanding of life and events in the past
Items It links past with present and reduces the gap between them It provides additional information for social studies textbook content It makes students appreciate the contribution of past generations Understanding the lifestyle in the past and its associated customs and traditions Preserve undocumented history from extinction and develops students’ concern about it Shows the emotional aspect of past events Presents points of view of those who lived in the period which may differ from the current views Recognizes the political, social, economic and cultural change across generations Helps to avoid mistakes of the past in current and future life Changes negative views/perceptions about the past Total
The results revealed that the social studies teachers believe strongly in the importance of using oral history in the classroom, to link past and present and to reduce the gap between them, as well as to provide additional information, and help students to appreciate the contribution of past generation and understand their customs

Summary

Introduction

Social studies teachers in many countries face difficulties when trying to develop students’ understanding of life and events in the past These difficulties arise from a number of factors: the ambiguity of the past, the gap between the past and the present, the shortage of information about some aspects of the past, the subjectivity of history and students’ difficulties in relating the past to their own lives or that of their country. These difficulties often lead students to see history as dull, lifeless, meaningless, backward and useless, a belief which has a negative effect on their attitudes towards studying the subject (Eric, Samson, & Mueni, 2013; Kiio, 1999). Definitions of oral history make this evident. Fogerty (2001, p. 102), for example, defines it as “a structured conversation between two people - an interviewer pursuing a carefully defined line of inquiry, and a narrator with information that interviewer seeks to acquire”. Shopes (2005) gives a similar definition: oral history is a “self-conscious, disciplined conversation between two people about some aspect of the past considered by them to be of historical significance and intentionally recorded for the record”

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