Abstract In this paper, I first argue that since standards of schools in Chinese communities have always been defined by the academic achievement of their students, especially in terms of public examinations results, teachers in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong may be reluctant to venture into unknown territories of the pedagogy by experimenting with a new set of approaches that promise no sure results. To let their students flourish through examination is a millennium-old Chinese tradition that is still being upheld today. The anticipated reluctance of Chinese teachers to change their ways of teaching is grounded on preliminary findings of research projects conducted in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong.
I further argue that without the support of teachers, curriculum reform efforts that aim to nurture highly productive citizens for the “knowledge economy” of the information age will be impeded. In their endeavor to enlist the help of teachers in the reform process, policymakers should benefit from a deeper appreciation of the values and professional concerns of teachers. Teachers can only support reform when they have the professional confidence to develop a sense of self-efficacy in their work. In order to develop this sense of self-efficacy, they need to feel empowered to initiate change and to apply their creativity to their work. This assumes the existence of a change environment that is conducive to the empowerment of teachers.
