British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 23, No. 1, 1997 39 Influences on Primary Teachers' Practice: some problems for curriculum change theory L. KYRIAKIDES, Pedagogical Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus ABSTRACT This paper presents findings concerning various sources of influences upon Cypriot primary school teachers. Questionnaires were distributed to a randomly selected sample of 10% of all Cypriot primary teachers. A response rate of 72% was obtained. Analysis was carried out using SPSS. Although a strong consensus among teachers' perceptions of teaching and assessment in mathematics was identified, there was little consensus about sources of influence on their practice. Cluster analysis (SPSS) revealed six relatively homogeneous groups of Cypriot teachers according to perceived influences on their practice. It is argued that the notion of a coherent set of teachers' attitudes to change is problematic and this has implications for curriculum reform policy. Introduction The purpose of this paper is to report an investigation into perceived sources of influences upon Cypriot primary teachers and to explore implications for the process of curriculum change. The paper is divided into four sections. The first section is concerned with the process of curriculum reform in Cyprus, and it is argued that it is necessary to understand the factors influencing teachers when attempting to evaluate curriculum reform. The methods used to collect data concerned with sources of influence upon teachers' perceptions and the findings of the investigation are presented in the second and third sections respectively. The last section explores implications for the process of curriculum change in Cyprus. Curriculum reform has been difficult to effect in many countries partly because its success is not dependent on the substantive content of the reform alone (Howson, 1991; Rudduck, 1991). The failure of much curriculum innovation has been attributed to the neglect by innovators of teachers' perceptions (e.g. Sutherland, 1981; Nisbet, 1973). Fullan (1991) has argued that the reasons for the failure of most educational reforms goes far beyond the identification of specific technical problems. He supports the argument of Wise (1977) that policy-makers are frequently 'hyper-rational' and points out that: 0141-1926/97/010039-08 ©1997 British Educational Research Association