This study focuses upon the development of English syllabuses in New South Wales secondary education from 1953 to 1976. By means of a thorough comparative analysis of the texts of the five syllabuses of 1953, 1961 - 2, 1965, 1971 and 1974 - 6, the shifts in content of these syllabuses are identified. Through an examination of primary source documents, the interviewing of all the surviving principal figures involved in the process of syllabus formulation during that period, and reference to other relevant research, a history is constructed which accounts for the changes located through the process of comparative textual analysis.