Because elementary teachers are viewed as subject-matter generalists who are not specialized in teaching history, this qualitative action research project explored my practice as I designed, implemented, and evaluated a unit that utilized effective history teaching practices. The study took place in my fourth-grade classroom which resides in the Intermountain West. The data was analyzed with Cochran-Smith and Lytle's (1999) three types of knowledge as a priori codes. Inductive processes were then used to find patterns and themes. The study found that designing this unit involved engaging in historical practices and using traditional lesson planning techniques. Further, implementing the study involved engaging in disciplinary literacies through questioning and responding to student needs during the unit. Finally, the evaluation of the unit involved reflecting on mistakes and making plans for future units. These findings added to the research that has been done on history teaching by showing how I used historical practices (such as visiting historical places, finding primary source documents, and engaging in collaboration) to gain more knowledge for practice. These findings also showed that I used my knowledge in practice to generate questions that helped my students to utilize the disciplinary literacies of history. Finally, this study showed that going through the action research cycle was a meaningful experience for me and helped me to generate more knowledge of practice. Thus, the recommendation is put forth that preservice teachers are taught how to engage in historical practices and how to utilize the action research cycle in their practice.

The use of historical source material and teaching in how to do historical analysis of sources is specific subject goal and knowledge requirements in all the upper secondary school's history courses. Previous research has shown that when historical sources and how the handling of these are the content of teaching, social science source criticism is practiced. Which means that the focus is not on historical disciplinary skills, which means that Swedish upper secondary school students' skills in managing sources in a disciplinary way are relatively low. The purpose of this study is to find new knowledge about which understandings history teachers have of analysis historical sources and which underlying reasoning form the basis for teachers' design of history teaching where sources and handling of them is the lesson content. The idea is that a study like this should be able to contribute with new knowledge about the problems with source handling in schools. The study uses interviews, four history teachers were interviewed, all active in upper secondary school. The results from the study partly confirm the previous research but also contribute with new knowledge. When history teachers talk and describe the teaching of source handling is based on an absolute source concept, it is likely that the teaching is conducted in an absolute and reconstructivist approach. In the process of handling historical sources, the teachers in this study describe that great emphasis is placed on source-critical criteria, arranged and simplified source exercises as well as conveying certain predetermined perspectives on history. This provides a knowledge contribution where insight and understanding are given on how history teachers perceive historical sources, how these should be handled and how they describe the implementation of their practical teaching. Previous research has been action-based or at an overall level examined source management. Through this study, new knowledge is provided that deepens and variegate the previous research knowledge of history teachers' handling of sources. / Användandet av historiskt källmaterial och undervisning i källhantering utgör ett specifikt ämnesmål och kunskapskrav i alla gymnasiets historiekurser. Den tidigare forskningen har visat att när historiska källor och hanteringen av dessa utgör historieundervisningens innehåll praktiseras ett samhällsvetenskapligt källkritiksbegrepp.  Detta gör att fokus inte är på ämnesdisciplinära förmågor, något som i sin tur medför att svenska gymnasieelevers färdigheter i att hantera källor på ett historiskt sätt på goda grunder kan antas vara förhållandevis låga. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka förståelser till källhantering av historiskt källmaterial som historielärare har och vilka bakomliggande resonemang som ligger till grund för deras utformning av historieundervisning där källor och källhantering utgör lektionsinnehållet. Tanken är att en sådan undersökning ska kunna bidra med ny kunskap om problemen med källhantering i skolorna. Undersökningen utgår från forskningsintervjuer intervjuades fyra stycken historielärare, alla verksamma i gymnasieskolan.  Resultatet från studien bekräftar delvis den tidigare forskningen men bidrar också med ny kunskap. När historielärare talar och beskriver undervisningen i källhantering utifrån ett absolut källbegrepp så är det sannolikt att undervisningen bedrivs på ett absolut och rekonstruktivistiskt sätt. I processen att hantera källor beskriver lärarna i denna studien att stor vikt läggs på källkritiska kriterier, tillrättalagda och förenklade källövningar samt förmedling av lärarens förbestämda perspektiv på historien. Därigenom lämnas ett kunskapsbidrag där det ges inblick och förståelse om hur historielärare uppfattar historiska källor, hur dessa bör hanteras och hur de beskriver genomförandet av deras praktiska undervisning. Tidigare forskning har varit aktionsbaserad eller på övergripande nivå undersökt källhanteringen. Genom denna studie ges ny kunskap som fördjupar och nyanserar forskningens kunskap om historielärares källhantering.