High School
Student-Led Oral Histories of Local Officials
This framework for the collection and preservation of Student-Led Oral Histories of Local Government Officials was developed by the Kansas Oral History Project as part of a civic education initiative to encourage students to engage with their community and learn about the different areas of local government. Using local government officials as a source for student-led oral history interviews will acquaint students in elementary, middle or high school with their local elected officials and what their job is in the local community.
Teachers are encouraged to download the attached introduction, interview protocol, the lesson plans and activity notes Show Morefor teachers for complete information. There is also a six-minute video clip of former Water Commissioner Jack Alexander which is intended for use with the lesson plans.
See the full interview with Commissioner Alexander under Collections/Notable Kansans Show Less
Kansas History, Government, Social Studies Standards
The Kansas Standards for History, Government, and Social Studies prepare students to be informed, thoughtful, engaged citizens as they enrich their communities, state, nation, world, and themselves.
--An informed citizen possesses the knowledge needed to understand contemporary political, economic, and social issues and the skills to locate and utilize credible sources of information.
--A thoughtful citizen applies higher order thinking skills to make connections between the past, present, and future in order to understand, anticipate, respond to, and solve problems.
--An engaged citizen communicates, collaborates, contributes, compromises, and participates as an active member of a community
Compelling Questions
The Teachers Advisory group to KOHP developed a series of compelling questions as examples of how to use them with the oral history interviews. Other resources for compelling questions will be added in the future.
"If we're going to help our kids become knowledgeable, engaged, and active citizens, they need to be solving problems and addressing questions." This quote is from Glenn Wiebe, educational consultant at Tech and Learning in Hutchinson, KS. https://historytech.wordpress.com/presentations/
Short Line Railroads in Kansas
This excerpt of an interview talks about the short line railroads in Kansas and their usefulness in a transportation system.
Students can use the map to see which communities the Kansas & Oklahoma Short Line Railroad services. What other rail services, such as passenger service are available in these communities? How has the utilization of railroads changed in the last 100 years? Why does Mr. McKechnie believe that short line rail service will reduce congestion on the highways. Can you give examples of how transportation has changed in your life time? In your parents? Show MoreYour grandparents? Show Less
Why Oral History is Important
This six minute video of Dr. Jim Leiker, historian at Johnson County Community College, will give students a clear understanding of why history is important, and why oral history plays an important role in "filling in the gaps" in the historical record.
How the Legislature Works
The 30 minute video, "How Things Got Done in the Kansas Legislature" is an introduction to how laws are made in Kansas and features 12 different legislators talking about how they got elected, how they determined their legislative priorities--in effect, how they made things happen in the Kansas Legislature.
A Native American Views the Pledge of Allegiance
Potawatomi tribal council member Rafael Wahwassuck was asked to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at his elementary school and discovered that his family objected. He explains in this short video why the flag doesn't mean the same to all people.
"I came home excited from school, explaining to my folks that it was going to be my turn to lead the Pledge of Allegiance, and I was told no. I didn’t understand that right away. I didn’t understand because everybody else was doing it in the class. So I waited all year for it to be my turn to stand up Show Morein front of the class and lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
Then I was given a short history lesson. Part of that lesson was how the meaning of the American flag was not the same for everybody in that classroom, and more specifically, what it meant for our people and how in certain circumstances, it could be viewed as a sign of oppression to our people.
I left that day, knowing I didn’t have to, but I was free to lead the Pledge of Allegiance if I wanted to. When my day came at school, I chose not to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. I was then promptly sent to the principal’s office for not wanting to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance with the rest of the students.
Again, that’s just an early experience that I can recall, and it wasn’t until later on in my life that I had an opportunity to speak with one of my uncles because, as you know, you know my family, I’ve had numerous veterans in my family throughout the entire history of this country.
One of the ones who was a career veteran, I asked him, I said, “Why do you do what you do? I’m confused. I don’t understand. If the United States came in and they imposed everything on us, they took so many things away from us, why do you then proudly serve in their Armed Forces?”
He said to me, “The first time around when we had people coming in, we didn’t stand up like we should have. We didn’t stand up like we should have, and it put our people in a position where we are today back then.” So he said, “I’m going to do my part to make sure that I can do whatever I can to protect our people today and make sure that our area and our land and our beliefs are protected today.” Show Less
- [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mjBQoT-FZw[/embedyt]
What Kansas Courts Do
Retired Kansas Supreme Court Justice Carol Beier explains in this short video how the courts are different from the other two branches of state government and how the Supreme Court works to preserve the rule of law.
The complete text of the interview of Justice Beier by Richard Ross can be found under the Kansas Courts and the Rule of Law collection.
- [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI9qSgsL-4M[/embedyt]
What Kansas Governors Do
This 14 minutes video uses segments from the oral history interviews of two Kansas Governors, Kathleen Sebelius and Bill Graves, to illustrate how each of these popular, two-term governors navigated the political waters. Topics include budgets, school finance, working with a cabinet, court mandates.
Civics Education
An editorial in the Topeka Capital Journal stated, “Civics is about so much more than passing a written test…or reciting facts or figures about our country and Constitution. It’s about the spirit of America, about a country that includes Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, men and women, Black people and white people, gay people and straight people, and a few editorial writers besides. Civics, in other words, is about perfecting and pursuing a more perfect union.” [see complete editorial below.] What better place to understand how public policy is created than a collection of easily accessible and pertinent Show Moreprimary sources for students of all levels. The Kansas Oral History Collection consists of transcripts of oral histories of state legislators, state officials and notable Kansans describing their involvement with public policy in the last quarter of the Twentieth Century and the first decades of the Twenty-first Century.
For students it is a treasure trove of information from primary sources. For teachers, there are short clips taken from interviews of actual policy-makers describing what it takes to make laws and policy. More are being added regularly.
The Kansas Oral History Project works with the Kansas Department of Education and an advisory group of teachers to develop new materials from its collection of oral histories for use in the classroom.
Civic engagement exists as part of the current KSDE accreditation systems, and involves both learning in the classroom and service projects in the community. KOHP is interested working with teachers to create oral history projects that engage the community.
For more information use the contact form on this website. Show Less