ABSTRACT
Centrally based curriculum development refers to head office administrators or senior project officers in an educational system making decisions about what is to be taught, and often how it is to be taught and how it is to be assessed. The personnel who make these curriculum decisions can include: senior administrators and curriculum officers; university academics; researchers; and politicians. Within an 'education system' a new curriculum is often initiated by a senior officer such as a superintendent of curriculum and a team of curriculum officers, with a reference group of school principals, academics or practising teachers to provide an input. An interesting variation of centralized curriculum development is the National Collaborative Curriculum Development Project which occurred in Australia 1991-3. There are of course many disadvantages of centrally based curriculum development. For example, it assumes that there is a general consensus on value orientations and approaches and that specific curriculum materials will be acceptable to a wide range of clientele.
