In their dealings with educators in the Southern Cape region of South Africa, the researchers observed among them a degree of negativity and pessimism about the implementation of the Further Education and Training (FET) policy and curriculum during 2006. Exploratory discussions supported the surmise that a gap existed between policy formulation and the actual implementation of the policy in secondary schools. A qualitative research project confirmed this surmise, and served as the basis for a theoretical examination of the dynamics behind the stance adopted by the participants.