ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses some of the official language used to describe the National Curriculum. The language appears to be on some occasions imprecise and indeed it is extremely difficult to understand exactly what is being claimed. There appears particularly to be a confusion in conceptual terms between an attempt to establish an absolute body of knowledge which will be the accepted curriculum for all children; and the acknowledgement that any curriculum must adapt and evolve under external constraints. There would seem in general terms to be two possible ways in which the issues raised in this chapter may be resolved. One would be to address these issues and try to clarify the ways in which concepts are employed in the National Curriculum dialogue. The other strategy would be to accept the relativism inherent in any curriculum, and to attempt to adapt the curriculum itself, its delivery and the mechanisms for periodic revision to reflect this relativism.
