Oral history as a classroom tool
Translated by M.B. Khoshnevisan
2017-10-24
The Issue 4 of the expert-scientific “Oral History” with the publication date of autumn and winter of the year 1395 solar Hijri calendar (autumn 2016 and winter 2017) has been recently released. The owner of the biquarterly is the National Library and Archive of Islamic Republic of Iran. The editor-in-chief of the journal is Mohammad Javad Moradiniaand its executive editor Gholam Reza Azizi. The editorial board of the journal’s issue 4 are Mehdi Abolhassan Taraqi, Faezeh Tavakoli, Abolfazl Hassan Abadi, Morteza Rasouli Pour, Ali Asgahr Saeedi, Hamid Abdollahian, Heshmatollah Azizi, Gholam Reza Azizi, Saed Fakhrzadeh, Mohsen Kazemi, Alireza Kamari, Morteza Nouraee, and Shifteh Niknafs.
The following titles are seen in 211 pages: the chief-editor’s word/ About the methodology of oral history (Dr. Morteza Nouraee), Articles/Role of oral history in producing family history (Peimaneh Salehi), Oral history as a classroom tool: Learning management theory from the evolution of an organization (Sharon Topping, David Duhon, Stephen Bushardt; translators: Dr. Houshang Khosrow Beigi, Roya Chegini), Thinking about the possibility and benefit of oral history in Iranian architecture history (Seyedeh Mitra Hashemi), Oral history and folklore (Barbara Allen; translated by Dr. Soheila Safari), Oral history of Iran-Iraq war: Sacred Defense in western research (Dr. Mahboubeh Shamshirgarha), Legal and ethical issues in oral history (Linda Shopes; translated by Farhnaz Esmaeel Zadeh), Book’s criticism and introduction/Kalima criticized: Book review and criticism, “Kalima: Memories of captivity of Dr. Hassanali Pour Hassani from Siberia” (Dr. Seyed Mahmoud Sadat Bidgoli), Book review and criticism, “Oral history of Islamic revolution in Arak” (Maryam Talebi, Sareh Mahshadi, Maryam Hajizadeh), Report/Oral History of Sacred Defense (The Organization for Sacred Defense Archive), Oral history of the ministries and other state organizations: A report from the holding of special workshops for the country’s executive departments (Mohammad Mohammadi Nia), Oral history of the Foreign Ministry (Ali Bakhshi), Interview/Interview with Master Abdolhossein Haeri (Mohammed Mohammdi Nia).
At the end of the article “Oral history as a classroom tool: Learning management theory from the evolution of an organization” and in pages 57 and 58 of the Issue 4 of the expert-scientific “Oral History”, we read, “The article shows how oral history is used as a tangible experience and learning for the class of management theory. The results produced from this experience have several important points:
This project is an innovative method for bringing the real class to class environment. Discussing about the management theories and then allowing the students to witness the real life through the eyes of experienced experts have turned this measure as a considerable learning experience.
The implementation of the project was also is a way for transferring of history management to classroom and recognition of a management record. The students were able to see the intense effects of the organization’s founders on its future. Moreover, they were able to find out how the initial history and strategies of the organization set the stage for the next successes. The students were shown how the understanding of the organization’s history can enable the individuals to be able to present enough and appropriate explanation about the organization’s current situation. Without understanding these cases, they never found out for what reason there is a clinic today.
In other words, the students had the opportunity to talk to creative persons who have been the successful leaders of business and trading. Their impacts as a role model for the students were a great assistance. It is worth mentioning that the students in their survey forms –filled anonymously – have said that the project is one of the most interesting and valuable home works they have ever experienced. This learning experience has also been valuable for researchers to the same extent. One of the writers who was a researcher in the field of hygiene care expressed surprise of the valuable and numerous knowledge about how he had learnt medical activities in 1950s and 1960s.
Also, the project opened new horizons toward the studied subject. For instance, the impacts of encouragement on the human behavior have not been changed in the course of time; thus, the founders acted knowingly through recognizing the human behavior, using it in implementing their project. The correct application of the system of encouraging by the founders in the clinic's management structure has provided the grounds for clinic's success.
On the other hand, listening to the words of the interviewees through tapes was an amazing experience – it was something that created new ideas for large research and vast rooms for future research. Therefore, using oral history in classroom has been a valuable measure for promotion of the students'' experiences. Also, the implementation of the project has shown a good experience in the area of business as well as the partnership of insurance companies with university.
The important point is that the project has left valuable documents to which can be referred for years. It can present advantages to the society and can be used by many generations for understanding the studies organization and as a historical reference. It is difficult to imagine a more enjoyable way for using history in management which can also be useful for others.
The issue 4 of the expert-scientific “Oral History” biquarterly has been presented in 150 printed copies as well as here in cyberspace.
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