Abstract The Cold War, and especially the launch of Sputnik, meant changes in curriculum development throughout the Western world. New Zealand was no exception. Our model, the Curriculum Development Unit (CDU), later the Curriculum Development Division (CDD), was relatively unique, heavily oriented towards teacher involvement. In the 1960s and early 1970s, there was a confident sense of educational progress, and curriculum development was both a driver of that feeling and a reflection of it. Towards the end of the 1970s, and throughout the 1980s, there was a change of mood. There was concern over the ever-rising cost, and society was becoming fractured over moral issues such as sex and social studies education. For six years, Merv Wellington tried to stem the curriculum development tide. That tide was overtaken by a larger wave--Rogernomics. The CDD went out of existence. For a brief period it had been a power-house of education. There are some lessons to be learnt. Introduction am not a researcher, academic, or curriculum developer. After majoring in history at university, learnt the craft of teaching, before shifting into education management as the baby-boomers streamed through our system. have also developed as a writer, and that is how now describe myself--rather than as an educator. But for five years (1981-85), most of them while Merv Wellington was Minister of Education, held a position of Assistant-Director Curriculum Development in the old wooden building, the headquarters in Wellington of the Department of Education. Curriculum development, like any other educational development, reflects what's happening in the outside society, both locally and globally. Just as social historians see the end of the three-term school year as a reflection of a shift from a rural society to an urban, so they see curriculum development as a by-product of the Cold War. Especially after the launch of Sputnik and the resulting space race, Western nations moved from syllabus revision to curriculum development. Enhancement of mathematics and science learning became a priority. Developments in these two disciplines led to similar developments in others. Research into learning methodology led to calls to develop new and improved teaching and learning techniques. Syllabus revision was seen as old-style deck-chair arranging, whereas curriculum development was about going back to the design table. In the USA, research and development centres were the response--while in the UK, the Schools Council reflected the same change of emphasis. New Zealand curriculum development In New Zealand, it took the form of a Curriculum Development Unit (CDU). In 1977, the title was changed to Curriculum Development Division (CDD). was a young secondary school teacher when the Currie Commission recommended the formation of such a unit (1962). Speaking of its formation in 1964 under his successor Arnold Campbell, Dr Beeby (1992, p. 253) said, I should have had the wit to start it sooner. am not competent to comment on anything after 1959, but believe the unit has done a fine job. As well as the shock of Sputnik, there was a growing awareness of the need to dovetail our primary and secondary syllabuses to ensure continuity. There was the pressure of the post-World War 2 bulge passing through the compulsory school system. Everywhere, new schools were being built in new suburbs. More and more secondary students were staying on at school, so the senior curriculum needed attention. The CDU was seen as a ginger group assigned to come up with ideas and strategies to cope with educational growth and change. New Zealanders tended still to regard our society as a social laboratory. Unemployment was low, Britain took all our butter, ANZUS guaranteed our security, and the welfare state was a given. It was a time of growth and postwar building. The damming of rivers was not controversial, though a massive social change was starting with the influx of Maori into the cities. …