During the past years of political and economic upheaval in central and eastern Europe, it has become increasingly clear that the outcomes of democratising reforms depend as much on changing people as on changing systems. In the field of education, for example, researchers have identified teacher 'resistance' as a major obstacle to change at school level. However, earlier research by the authors in Poland has shown sharply diverging attitudes towards change amongst teachers, hinting at a far less uniform professional culture and practice than is often assumed. The study reported here of Polish teachers' life histories attempts to identify factors which might explain their differing perceptions of change and suggests how teachers could be better supported during periods of upheaval. Ironically, a newly announced round of school reforms in Poland seems set to provoke greater teacher resistance, by once again focusing on changing the system rather than supporting the teachers.