How do Teachers Influence People?

The recent announcement by the Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson, about a proposed Australian Certificate of Education (ACE) is the latest instalment in a long history of attempts to promote national curriculum approaches. This paper is based on a commitment to national curriculum approaches but argues that the recent proposals - based as they are on a modernist rationale exemplified by the use of the railway gauge metaphor - are no more likely to be educationally sound than previous efforts. The paper places the current proposals about a national approach to curriculum in an historical context by undertaking a short overview of previous attempts/strategies. A critical exploration of two of the recent proposals - the Australian Certificate of Education and the nationally consistent curriculum outcomes project - is then conducted in order to identify some principles that might inform future attempts. The paper concludes by suggesting one possible approach to a national curriculum that is consistent with these principles.