"Curriculum making", highlighted in the Geographical Association's Manifesto in 2009, was the focus of a research symposium held in London in April 2011. Using an auto-ethnographic approach, I reflect on and explore my experience of participating in that symposium. The analysis explores the "cultures of influence" and the "forms of problematisation" represented in the symposium papers, and argues that there is a tension between the ideas that underpin curriculum making (which focus on the actions of the teacher) and how research conducted in higher education problematises the geography curriculum. The analysis reveals three categories of "problems": subject identity and expertise, teacher professionalism and engagement, and education policy and its enactment. In helping to understand these problems further, the research has been able to highlight the significance of local contexts in influencing and facilitating change in education, and the necessity of a productive relationship between academics and teachers. (Contains 1 figure.)