Cirrus@Austlit

'The author has been a consultant to the national curriculum process from its beginnings in 2008, first with the interim National Curriculum Board (NCB) and then with the Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority (ACARA). In this paper he offers an overview of how the English curriculum was developed, outlines some of the issues that proved to be most difficult and even controversial during the consultation period, then looks briefly at the English curriculum itself to reflect on how he thinks teachers might use it to develop their teaching materials. Finally, he returns to some of the differences that emerged between school and university teachers of English during the consultation phase and suggests some of the ways in which current academic research might contribute to curriculum content. The author argues that these differences raise what are essentially institutional problems that might best be addressed by improving the relationships between our respective peak professional bodies. (Author abstract)