Grade 9 career guidance | Choosing History as a Subject in High School

Sedhoo Padayachee, Principal at Abbotts College Northcliff • August 22, 2019

A great subject to help you flourish in any career opportunity. 

A globe is sitting on top of a wooden table.
History helps one understand the world by examining the struggles, failures and successes of our predecessors. Through this we learn how to examine ourselves and improve the world we live in. Studying History, equips us with all the qualities we require in a modern society: understanding, compassion & tolerance.

The table below highlights the main topics covered in Grades 10, 11 and 12. 

Grade 10

  • The World Around 1600

    Brief history on China, Songhai, India and European Societies. 

  • European Expansion and Conquest: 15th to 18th Centuries

    America: Spanish Conquest.

    Africa: Portuguese and Dutch Conquests.


  • The French Revolution

    Causes & significance. 

    Impact on the rest of the world.


  • South African History

    Transformation in Southern Africa after 1750.

    Colonial Expansion after 1750.

    The South African War and The Union.


Grade 11

  • Communism in Russia

    How communism was applied in Russia under Lenin and Stalin from 1900 to 1940.

  • Capitalism in USA

    How the Great Depression in the USA brought about a crisis of capitalism from 1900 to 1940.

  • Ideas of Race in the late 19th and 20th Centuries

    What were the consequences when pseudo-scientific ideas of race became integral to government policies and legislation in the 19th and 20th centuries?

    Case studies:

    Australia and the Indigenous Australians

    Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.


  • Nationalism

    In South Africa, The Middle East and Africa.

  • Apartheid

    In South Africa between 1940 & 1970.

Grade 12

  • The Cold War

    The Impact of the Cold War in forming the world in  the 1960s

  • Independent Africa

    What ideas influenced Independent African states?

    What types of African states were set up?


  • Civil Society Protest

    In the USA from 1960 to 1990.

    In South Africa from 1960 to 1990.


  • Collapse of the USSR

    The Impact on SA, the rest of Africa and the world.

  • How did South Africa emerge as a democracy from the crisis of the 1990's

    1978-1989 - The reign of P.W. Botha.

    1989-1994 - F.W. de Klerk, Compromise, Negotiations, Elections

    Government of National Unity.


  • Truth and Reconciliation Commission

    Dealing with the past.

Studying History prepares one for various different career opportunities. The more obvious ones being: educators, professors, scholars, historical consultants, researchers, writers. History students also make very good journalists, archivists, librarians, lawyers, advocates, judges, archaeologists, philosophers and politicians.

Most people overlook the value of a history major in preparing an intelligent person for a career in business. Historians track historic trends, an important skill for those developing products to market or engaged in corporate or financial planning. They also learn how to write persuasively, and this training gives an edge in advertising, communications, media, and marketing. 

Industries depend on an intimate knowledge of government policies and historical trends thus history majors have found their skills useful in extractive industries and in public utilities.

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