Teachers’ Acceptance of Curriculum Reform in the Czech Republic: One Decade Later

Oct 15, 2026

The study investigates Czech primary and lower secondary teachers’ current attitudes toward curriculum reform, focusing on acceptance within the Concern-Based Adoption Model (CBAM). Survey results (n=701) show generally negative attitudes. Acceptance increases for teachers who use curriculum documents regularly, who have higher self-efficacy, and who adopt system-/curriculum-oriented approaches. No significant differences emerge by gender, teaching experience, or involvement in school management. Findings are drawn from one country but may inform broader educational development under similar policy contexts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Teachers’ acceptance and resistance

Czech implementation context

Research focus and rationale

doi:10.26529/cepsj.560 Teachers’ Acceptance of Curriculum Reform in the Czech Republic: One Decade Later Karolína Pešková*1, Michaela Spurná2 and Petr Knecht3 • Similarly to other Visegrád Group countries, the most recent curriculum reform in the Czech Republic brought substantial changes in the curriculum documents for schools. The purpose of this study is to investigate Czech primary and lower secondary teachers’ current attitudes towards curriculum reform. The results of a survey (n = 701) indicate that teachers have adopted rather negative attitudes. The acceptance of reform tends to increase among the teachers who use curriculum documents regularly and among the teachers with higher self-efficacy. In addition, teachers with system-centred/curriculum-oriented approaches are willing to accept the reform. There is no significant difference between teachers’ gender, their length of teaching experience, and their involvement in school management. Within the general frame of the Concern-Based Adoption Model (CBAM), the study draws on data from one country, but the implications for further educational development are potentially applicable across countries with similar educational policy backgrounds. Keywords: curriculum reform, teachers’ attitudes, acceptance, resistance, curriculum documents 1 *Corresponding Author. Institute for Research in School Education at the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University, Czech Republic; [peskova@ped.muni.cz](peskova@ped.muni.cz). 2 PhD student at the Department of Educational Sciences, Masaryk University, Czech Republic. 3 Faculty of Education, Masaryk University, Czech Republic. Sprejetje kurikularne prenove učiteljev na Češkem: desetletje pozneje Karolína Pešková, Michaela Spurná in Petr Knecht • Podobno kot v drugih državah Višegrajske skupine je najnovejša kurikularna prenova tudi na Češkem bistveno spremenila šolske učnenačrte. Namen te raziskave je preučiti trenutno mnenje osnovnošolskihučiteljev o kurikularni prenovi. Glede na izsledke raziskave (n = 701) so ji učitelji precej nenaklonjeni, vendar pa učitelji, ki redno uporabljajo kurikularne dokumente in ki so učinkovitejši pri svojem delu, boljesprejemajo reformo. Prav tako so učitelji, katerih pristopi se osredinjajo na sistem/kurikulum, pripravljeni sprejeti reformo. Ni pomembnerazlike med spolom učiteljev, številom let izkušenj s poučevanjem innjihovo vključenostjo v vodenje šole. Pod splošnim okriljem modela, ki se osredinja na prilagoditve na osnovi problematike (Concern-Based Adoption Model – CBAM), se raziskava opira na podatke ene države, vendar so njeni učinki na nadaljnji razvoj izobraževanja potencialnouporabni v državah s podobnimi izobraževalnimi politikami. Ključne besede: kurikularna prenova, odnos učiteljev, sprejemanje, odpor Introduction Curriculum reforms are often promoted as promising in terms of an increase in the quality of education. Therefore, the implementation of curriculum reforms as one of the forms of educational change is broadly reflected in manifestations of educational policy and programmes. In reliance upon Fullan (2014), we understand the implementation of curriculum reforms as a developmental process leading from the birth of a reform idea to its final implementation. The vitality of curriculum reforms depends on the teacher’s acceptance of the reforms and their principles, because the teachers are expected to put reform ideas into practice (Park & Sung, 2013) . Various forms of teacher resistance may block the implementation of new reforms, since responding to reforms is an interpretive act that is personal, interactive, and continuous (cf. Bantwini, 2010) . Teachers’ resistance is a natural reaction to the changes manifested in their effort to resist reform practices assertively (Berkovich, 2011; Noyes, Wake, & Drake, 2013) . Disconnections between educational policies and teachers’ practices are extreme (cf. Meyer, 2010) as actors of curriculum reforms at different

FAQs

What is the purpose of the study?

The study aims to examine Czech primary and lower secondary teachers’ current attitudes toward curriculum reform.

How do teachers generally respond to the curriculum reform?

Survey results indicate teachers have rather negative attitudes, though acceptance varies by teacher characteristics.

Which factors are associated with higher acceptance of the reform?

Acceptance tends to be higher among teachers who regularly use curriculum documents, have higher self-efficacy, and use system-/curriculum-oriented approaches.

Oct 15, 2026

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