When will they ever Learn?: another failure of centrally-imposed change

This paper draws on the experiences of a principal and teachers in one secondary school which formed part of a four-site case study undertaken during a period when a new State government set in train the most radical change to an education system in Australia's history. The study investigated trust between principals and teachers and showed that imposed school-based management affected this trust resulting in a negative impact within schools. This paper briefly considers the background and context attached to the radical change together with one of its elements, the implementation of a statewide curriculum.