Looking back

An oral history interview is a primary source of information about the past. Watching and listening to personal accounts of experiences and events from the past can help build historical knowledge. It is important to note that oral histories depend on people's memories and experiences and can be inaccurate due to the passing of time and the interviewee's perspective.

An oral history interview is generally a narration that is guided by open-ended questions. An open-ended question usually begins with how, what, when, where or why. Phrases such as 'What do you think about ...?' and 'Tell me more about ...' are open-ended as they are asking for answers that require knowledge and opinions. The interviewer asks questions about the past and records the interviewee's responses through video, audio or written notes (with a scribe for young students). The interview can be analysed and inferences made to give a clearer picture of an event or period of time.

Familiarise yourself with the interview questions (.docx 22kB).

Tell students that they will be watching a video in which a child asks an older member of the community some questions to find out about the games they played and the toys they played with when they were young.

Before showing the video, familiarise your students with the visualising comprehension strategy by completing some related student activities at the website Into the book. Use the Lessons link in the Teacher Area for practical activities to develop the strategy.

During the video, use the visualising strategy of pausing to listen to students verbalise their thinking and describe the pictures they have made in their mind.

After the interview, your students could draw a sketch of one of their mind pictures and share it with a small group of students.

Ask students to:

• identify the six questions the child asked
• tell what they found out about the toys and games that were played in the past
• talk about how toys and games have changed.

Encourage discussion by asking students:

• What has helped the man share his past with us? (His memories and the objects from his past.)
• Do most people remember everything about their childhood? Why or why not?
• What can help you find out? (Many students will have the benefit of having seen themselves in videos as well as photographs or have heard family stories and asked others such as parents.)
• If we asked another older person the same questions, would they have the same answers? What makes you think that?