Geography was included as a mandatory and independent discipline in the Norwegian school system in late 19th century. At that time, geography served as a deliberate tool in crafting a distinct national narrative for a country that had yet to attain full independence and lacked the storied history of its European counterparts. Geography was a school subject until the 1970s when a radical curricula reform merged subjects and constructed new interdisciplinary subjects for primary and secondary schools. In general (at least for secondary school), geography was one third of the subject social studies; history and civics being the two other disciplines. This paper explores the evolution of geography content within the social sciences framework, tracing its negotiation and adaptation to contemporary policies and educational philosophies across four educational reforms since the 1970s. The focus is twofold: firstly, to elucidate the shifts in geography content influenced by political ideas and policies (national and international). Secondly, the study employs a analysis, drawing upon various conceptual frameworks of geographical thinking such as contextualization, scale and multiscale-thinking, relational thinking, spatial variation analysis, diverse perspective consideration, holistic and integrated thinking, meaningful creation, and the use of geographical imaginaries (Jackson 2006, Eidsvik 2022, Smith 2023). The paper applies these conceptual lenses to categorize the content of geography in different curricula iterations, emphasizing a particular focus on dissecting the alterations introduced in the most recent curriculum in 2020. By doing so, this research contributes to understand the interplay between educational reforms, political landscapes, and evolving paradigms of geographical thinking within the Norwegian education system. Conclusion: Fragmentation of geographical content and learning in education is highly problematic. The geography discipline has a substantial potential for holistic system thinking, combining knowledge, values, and skills from a different knowledge system. This is of paramount importance in an educational future compass where interdisciplinarity is highlighted as one of the main keys for a more sustainable future (ie UNESCO and OECD educational compasses). Reduction of geography as a discipline in schools and in teacher education is a step in the wrong direction in the quest for a more holistic and improved way to address the sustainability crisis through education.

Eidsvik, E. (2022). Geografisk danning og utdanning for berekraftig utvikling. I Geografididakikk for klasserommet. R. Mikkelsen og P. J. Sætre (red.). Oslo, Cappelen Damm Akademisk: 81-111. Jackson, Peter (2006) Thinking Geographically, Geography, 91:3, 199-204, DOI: 10.1080/00167487.2006.12094167 Smith, J. S. (2023). Thinking geographically. I Teaching Human Geography. Theories and Practice in Thinking Geographically. E. H. Fouberg og J. S. Smith (red.). Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing: 11-38.