Critical Oral History: Connecting School and Community

• In Event: Engaging the Community from the University, Part I

Abstract

This paper provides words and ways for educators to use critical oral history (COH) in their classrooms and communities to put their students and the voices of people from marginalized communities at the center of their curriculum to enact change. The paper provides an overview of how to use stories from those who have been underrepresented by dominant systems to (1) identify a critical topic, (2) engage critical processes, and (3) enact critical transformative justice outcomes. COH writes and rights history so that participants, both interviewers and narrators, in the COH projects aim to contextualize stories and make the voices and perspectives of those who have been historically marginalized heard and listened to in order to practice a writing as well as righting of history. Stories provide entry points for both people from privileged and less privileged backgrounds to engage as both narrators and interviewers. Participating in critical oral history curriculum, students from positions of privilege become aware of their privilege and begin to see how stories are often included within dominant, Western-oriented narratives of power. Simultaneously, students from historically marginalized positions see the stories of their community valued, which are often ignored in educational contexts. All students benefit from the collective actions of COH which includes: (a) identifying how and why stories of critical topics are told and untold, (b) engaging critical processes that promote awareness of perpetuated inequities and (c) engaging transformative justice outcomes. Through engaging this work, the students determine ways to tell these stories and advocate for themselves and others in marginalized positions.

Author

• Christine Lemley, Northern Arizona University