ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the social studies as school subjects in different international contexts. It shows that these subjects emerged largely in the twentieth century in conjunction with refinements to the role of primary education and the expansion of secondary education. It highlights differing conceptions of “social studies subjects” including disciplinary approaches that focus on history and geography and integrated approaches that view social studies as a single integrated school subject. It notes different theoretical perspectives on the development of school subjects in general and what this means for understanding social studies subjects. While these subjects have a relatively fixed role in the school curriculum across national jurisdictions, the forms they take in local contexts will differ in response to social, political and cultural contexts. The chapter ends with an assessment of the role social studies subjects have to play in an increasingly volatile and unpredictable future.
Keywords school subjects, social studies, history, geography, curriculum integration
