In this chapter, Clark traces the history of social studies curriculum in English Canada. She argues that English Canadian social studies curricula, although varied by province and time period, has always been shaped by American influence. She suggests that this is true both in terms of supporters and detractors. The American influence, Clark argues, affected Canadian curricula in two ways: direct influence and through interprovincial activity, as provinces shared ideas with each other. Of course, Great Britain also influenced the curricula, both through progressive education ideas and materials, but also because of the way in which Canadian citizenship was conceived.

In the early years of social studies, from the 1920s-1950s, English Canadians based their approach on the American progressive education model, which focused on project-work. In the 1950s and 1960s, both Americans and Canadians turned to an approach based on the structures of the disciplines, for example, teaching students to act as historians. By the 1970s, English Canadians were concerned with American dominance, and the Canadian Studies movement came into being. Clark argues that this was also a result of American influence. She draws on Max van Manen and Jim Parsons who identified four approaches to social studies in the 1970s and 1980s: social reconstruction and reflective awareness, moral education and valuing processes, environmental education and social problems approach, and Canadian studies and citizenship education. By the 1980s there was a new emphasis on citizenship. Clark argues that all of these eras in social studies have been influenced by American movements, to greater or lesser degrees.