In the study of the construction of curricular knowledge in Portugal between 1970 and 2009, we argue that the practice of the established curriculum guidelines has a close relationship with the personal dimension of its actors. Therefore, it is not possible to separate the life history of each actor from the curricular policy measures they developed. This means that we sought not only to identify who the political actors were, but also how they built their knowledge and the relationship this has with their life story, by making their social and cognitive map. The sources that we used were laws, reports and interviews with political actors. We conclude that the choice of political leaders for education is not innocent or even indifferent to their life policies, since the knowledge built by each one is integrated into their educational proposals. Although the agenda for education is defined at the supranational level, national policies take different directions. Thus, the study also suggests the need to research the relation between the collective and the individual in educational policies.