Teaching pupils to record oral history

The author of the article claims that while teaching pupils to record oral history, it is very relevant to explain to them the importance of the most suitable interviewee. Most original and valuable knowledge can be spread by a person who used to be an organizer of some past events, preserved some original objects, is fluent and tolerant. A teacher’s role and responsibility is to help pupils prepare for the meeting with one or another witness of some historical event. On the other hand, the interviewee should also be prepared for the meeting with pupils who want to listen to and to record his/her reminiscences. The article also emphasizes that pupils should be acquainted with the process of conducting an interview. Firstly, it is important to revive an elderly person’s reminiscences and only later pass on to the questioning which should be conducted according to some methodological recommendations. Attention should be paid to the number of questions, their formulation, question types and their system. Pupils should understand that in the process of conducting an interview the atmosphere of mutual trust should be created. The author claims that pupils should know how to document received oral history. They should also have to have the knowledge of how to process the collected material by full or partial transcription, how to preserve recorded oral historyVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŠvietimo akademij