ABSTRACT
The nature and organization of mass education began to transcend national boundaries and to function as a worldwide institution. The evolution of social science subject matter provides an excellent context in which to appreciate the changing nature of the mass culture being transmitted through national school curricula. With the introduction and application of more general ‘social science’ disciplines to the school curriculum, many of the elementary forms of values instruction were differentiated and reorganized. History, geography, civics, social studies, ethics and citizenship education came under the rubric of the social sciences. Ironically, the social science curriculum often commands less attention among national authorities than subjects like mathematics or science, and in the educational profession this component of the curriculum may be of secondary importance. In the modern world, it is useful to examine the linkages, especially how the state utilizes the schooling process to promote national cohesion and future social progress.
