Abstract This paper is based on a study into the social and ethical implications of computer education in Secondary Schools in Queensland (Australia). The author was part of a team which conducted this study. The paper reports on theoretical and social ethical considerations arising from the study and their pedagogical implications. After briefly reviewing the relationship of computer technology and philosophy, the paper outlines three orientations to curriculum‐vocational, liberal and socially‐critical. An argument is presented in favour of a socially‐critical orientation for computer education. The nature of that perspective's critique of technocratic culture is delineated and, finally, the paper discusses what a socially‐critical perspective would mean for computer education in the