Since 2011, in Sweden it’s compulsory for history teachers to teach and assess their students on the uses of history. However, there is little research on how teachers work or may work with uses of history in the classroom. Moreover, there is an ongoing conversation among scholars on the making history teaching meaningful and relevant to the students to orientate in present society. The presentation discusses the results, of my doctoral thesis, particularly about teaching uses of history.   

The research design entails an instrumental case study and some aspects of an intervention study. The data was collected through teacher and group interviews with students, classroom’s observations, group discussions during the lessons, teaching and students’ material. The data analysis was aided by the theories of didactical contract, the narrative competence and historical culture.[1] The results suggest a need of teacher-guided instruction when students work with historical sources posing an unexpected and new perspective that is not in line with student’s previous knowledge or worldview.