Arab Educational Information Network

The unprecedented circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 crisis have affected K-12 education systems in most countries around the world. It is widely recognized that this crisis has presented opportunities and challenges for various school subjects. The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on teaching and learning social studies. The study reviewed the content of 53 articles on K-12 social studies and its associated subjects (e.g., geography, history, and civic education) published between January 2020 and July 2022. Overall, the research findings indicated that COVID-19 prompted social studies teachers and educators to prioritize important content areas in the social studies curriculum (e.g., health education, human-rights education, digital citizenship, and children's everyday geographies), integrate a wide range of technologies, and implement innovative teaching practices. In spite of these opportunities, there were some common challenges that raised concern across international contexts, including pedagogical challenges, accessibility and connectivity challenges, administrative challenges, and insufficient professional development for teachers. The study recognized the need for more research on social studies, particularly in the area of learning loss. (Published abstract)