A study was conducted in England in 1990 to determine the impact of the l988 Education Act, which requires all primary school teachers of the 5-16 age group to pursue a common and detailed national curriculum in each subject. This legislation mirrors the trend within educational systems towards centrally determined goals with local responsibility for achieving them. The act also challenges an entrenched element of English teachers' ideology--that of professional autonomy. The Primary Assessment Curriculum and Experience (PACE) project conducted interviews with 88 teachers and 48 head teachers in 8 local education authorities across the country. These teachers will be interviewed again 2 years later. The research is concerned with feelings about teachers' autonomy as well as how perspectives have changed since the implementation of the act. The findings suggest that most teachers have had to change their teaching approach, classroom practices, and professional role perceptions, resulting in pressures of time, intensification of workload, and a loss of satisfaction in the child-centered aspects of the job. There is also evidence of a loss of autonomy but no indication of an erosion of teachers' professional self-image. Those who remain in the profession are likely in time to internalize the changes, adapt them, and make them their own. (LL)