Abstract Instumentalism is a growing disposition of thought in authorised theory. It is detrimental to education because it enfeebles the curriculum's ethical orientation. Instrumentalism reflects an that is based on five myths: (i) society causes goodness: (ii) individuals are radically free; (iii) individuals can handle this freedom; (iv) a perfect society is a rational possibility; and (v) experts ought to be in charge. The ethical orientation in needs urgently to become a focus. It can be summarised as five assertions: (i) questions of purpose are crucial: (ii) knowledge and identity are framed by backgrounds of significance that cannot entirely be made foreground, (iii) self-identity is primarily ethical; (iv) creative thinking requires an ethical/aesthetical sensibility; and (v) know-how is ethical. Introduction People acquiesce to power in the form in which they encounter it. The 9-year-old avoids the neighbourhood bully. The adolescent drifts with the in-group. The teacher complies with the manager's circumscribing rules. There are differences in intellectual maturity, but none in moral outlook. People adopt fads in their most prevalent form. Teenage girls express identity by wearing jeans on the hip. Public sector administrators distrust their staff. Curriculum managers value the precision of the outcomes-based curriculum. There are differences in social context, but none in ethical orientation. This article looks at the main ways in which the growing acceptance of instrumentalism in the is leading to a corresponding decline in the ethical. (1) We could say a great deal more on this topic, but space is limited; this is just a start. This discussion focuses primarily on the ethical dimension of curriculum. Where I have drawn on other dimensions--such as the political, sociological and psychological-I have done so only to articulate the ethical. (2) Overall, I will attempt to highlight the ethical poverty of authorised theory: that singular strand of theory, backed by national and state apparatuses, that has recently led to the so-called education reforms in a number of countries. This is an urgent task, on which the survival of education depends. Without an ethical orientation, there is nothing to distinguish education from other activities, however noble or debased, such as training for the labour market. If instrumentalism becomes supreme--and, regrettably, we are heading in this direction--education is dead. A growing disposition of thought I am not aware of any that is completely instrumental. Nevertheless, there is reason to think that instrumentalism is becoming an incontestable form of thought in modern societies. Instrumentalism is becoming naturalised. This is a trend. Trends imply and require opposing influences; a snowstorm today is a present reality, but global warming is the trend. The is on an instrumental course, but it still exhibits features that are not instrumental. Each trend needs to be evaluated on its individual merits. To show learners increasing respect; to view learners as future commodities in a transnational, neo-capitalist marketplace; to focus on the development of self-esteem while at the same time neglecting to foster esteem for things other than self; these are three current trends. As such, they need to he evaluated differently. The first should be encouraged, the second, resisted; the third, modified. In my early years of teaching I rarely heard talk of objectives, assessment, or standards. production function, provider capture, competencies, and curriculum outputs were unknown. Things have changed. Like all naturalisation processes, this one has meant that certain ideas and practices have become taken for granted within a small domain, to spill over into wider fields of application--in this case, the institutions of Western culture. …