"To the curriculum historian the importance of reform frequently lies not so much in its achievements as in its symbolism, particularly as reflected back into culture and society." This is Richard Aldrich's conclusion concerning the England and Wales Educational Reform Act of 1988 and the resulting introduction of the National Curriculum. The authors of this article believe he observed, correctly, that the National Curriculum, although presented as a radical reform by the then Education minister Kenneth Baker "was in terms of control, extent, content and form, firmly rooted in the English past. It was essentially backward rather than forward-looking, an attempt to preserve under the guise of change." In this article the authors develop this statement by examining what is left of the "emancipatory" tradition that manifested itself in the educational landscape of the 1960s. They also consider how much is "effectively" left in practice of the pedagogical modernism which aimed to develop the pre-world war reform movement of the New Education and have an innovative effect on society. In post-war Flanders, and more specifically from the 1970s on, a number of experienced educators drafted a concept for "new schools," in part because of disaffection with the society that had given rise to the Second World War and, in part also, as a step toward a new, more humane and democratic society. Under the label of Freinet, Montessori, Jena Plan, Method, Living or Project School, they sought--inspired by emancipation--to develop an alternative to the regular education. Also within regular education the progressive heritage was increasingly being achieved through so-called Experiential Education.