The inclusion of economic and social development as a theme in secondary geography curricula has been a major point of discussion amongst educational geographers in Victoria during the 1980's. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the validity and place of this concept within the changing educational paradigm of geography since 1960, and thereby to establish guidelines for the teaching of such concerns in secondary geography, with particular emphasis on the Victorian experience. The findings of this dissertation are centred on two main contentions. The first is that the future validity of development concerns as an element in secondary geography curricula depends upon a revision of the paradigm of educational geography. The second contention is that the use of the term development education is inappropriate given the goals and parameters of the educational field, and that a new phraseology needs to be devised to describe this area of geographic education.