Teacher receptivity to system-wide curriculum reform in the initiation stage: a Chinese perspective Yun-peng Ma Æ Hong-biao Yin Æ Li-fang Tang Æ Li-yan Liu Received: 31 August 2007 / Revised: 10 December 2008 / Accepted: 18 March 2009 / Published online: 12 May 2009 Ó Education Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea 2009 Abstract Few studies deal with teachers’ receptivity in the initiation stage of educational change, especially in a non-western cultural context like Mainland China. This study aims at investigating teachers’ receptivity to the system-wide curriculum reform of the senior secondary education in the initiation stage and understanding the factors influencing teachers’ receptivity in Mainland China. Questionnaire survey with open-ended question (n = 763) is employed to explore teachers’ receptivity in four selec- ted experimental provinces, i.e., the first group of provinces which are selected by Ministry of Education to implement the curriculum reform. Results indicate teachers have positive attitudes and behavioral intentions toward pro- moting the curriculum reform of senior secondary educa- tion, and they consider the reform is valuable but difficult to carry out. The existing theoretical model can explain teachers’ behavioral intentions quite well, but its predicting ability to teachers’ general attitudes is limited, which indicates some new variables that need to be considered, too. Implications of this study and suggestions for future research are also discussed in the article. Keywords Teacher receptivity Á Curriculum reform Á The initiation stage Á Mainland China Introduction Previous research has indicated repeatedly that teachers are significant agents of curriculum change (Berman and McLaughlin 1980; Fullan 2001; McLaughlin 2004). Teachers’ receptivity can be crucial in determining the success or failure of curriculum change (Lee 2000; Waugh 2000). Teachers will be more likely to commit themselves to the change if they have a positive attitude to the change. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the receptivity of teachers to any system-wide curriculum reform will be crucial for reform policy-makers as well as researchers. In general, the process of curriculum reform can be divided into three stages, i.e., the initiation stage, the implementation stage and the institutionalization stage, and factors influencing the development of those stages are also different (Fullan 2001). This reminds researchers that tea- cher receptivity in different stages should be explored, respectively. However, most studies on teacher receptivity are related to the implementation stage rather than the initiation or institutionalization stage (Lee 1998, 2000; Moroz and Waugh 2000; Waugh and Godfrey 1993, 1995; Yin et al. 2003). As yet, few studies conducted in Mainland China have focused on teacher receptivity to curriculum reform. This study attempts to bridge this gap by exploring teacher receptivity to a system-wide change under the context of the curriculum reform of senior secondary education in Mainland China. To be specific, it aims at investigating teacher receptivity to the curriculum reform of senior secondary education and understanding the fac- tors that influence teacher receptivity in the initiation stage. Y. Ma Á L. Tang School of Educational Science, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, People’s Republic of China H. Yin (&) Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, NT, Hong Kong e-mail: yinhb@cuhk.edu.hk L. Liu School of Foreign Language, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, People’s Republic of China 123 Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. (2009) 10:423–432 DOI 10.1007/s12564-009-9029-9