ABSTRACT
During the twentieth century, the curriculum of liberal education, for both the elite and the majority, has been restricted to a few, mainly academic' subjects. Choice between subjects has been encouraged and has been determined by student interest and ability. The essentialist view of knowledge, which dominated the curriculum of elite secondary schools and universities from the nineteenth century, was not intended to apply to mass education. Indeed, vocational studies, so lowly regarded by followers of Plato, and mass primary education, where child-centred philosophies had an impact, were far less influenced by the essentialist view. The capacity of central government to control the curriculum has been weakened primarily by the determination of teachers at school level to continue to teach the content that they feel is appropriate to individual children and to maintain the right of individual teachers to make the choices.
