The Meaning of Learning Historical Inquiry With Original Sources in Three Swedish Elementary Classrooms

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Identity Development and Humanities Instruction

Abstract

The paper reports from a Swedish action research project in year 4 and 5 in elementary school concerning encounters and migration in Viking age Scandinavia. The purpose is to examine what it means for elementary school children to learn to interpret and use original sources in a historical inquiry. Two questions are addressed: how do students perceive the process of interpreting original sources in a historical inquiry, and what are critical aspects of the learning of historical source interpretation? The qualitative analysis shows that students’ perceptions can be grouped into five progressing categories. Based on these four critical aspects are identified, i.e. aspects that are necessary to discern and particularly difficult for the students to learn.

Author

• Patrik Johansson, Stockholm University