Abstract:

IViewing the students as “little historians” and aiming at giving them the skills of historian, contemporary history teaching reorganize the methods specific to historiography such as oral history with pedagogical purposes and adapt them into history courses. Oral history is one of these methods, which aim at including individual stories into history and social studies courses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of oral history method at fourth grade level. Action research, a qualitative research design, was used as the design of the study. The participants of this study were composed of 10 fourth graders studying at Sulusaray district of Tokat province. The topic of “Clues of Past” in the unit “I’m Learning about my Past” in the fourth grade history curriculum was redesigned according to oral history method and implemented in fourth grade level. Open-ended questions were used in order to take opinions of participants after the practice. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. As a result of the study, it was found that oral history was regarded as interesting by participants and was described as a tool to be used in gaining communication skills and ability to perceive change and continuity. To conclude, oral history is a method that can be used effectively in fourth grade level.

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