Dreams and Realities about Values and Core Curriculum in Secondary Schools

Core curriculum is a design concept planned around common, agreed values or universally desired outcomes and common learning experiences. Recently, there has been considerable interest, both in Australia and in other places such as U.K., U.S.A., and Canada, in the possibility of identifying a content and structure for a core curriculum. This paper argues that the beginnings of a core curriculum (and not one tied to traditional subjects) already exist in Australia. Furthermore, it proposes that the major obstacle in moving schools towards a core curriculum lies not in identifying appropriate content and structure but rather in providing school level support for program design and effective installation.