This paper reports the findings of a longitudinal study of the literacy teaching of two teachers who were involved in a large-scale government initiative to change the way literacy is taught. These two teachers were identified at the outset of the study as being very different in ways in which they thought about the teaching of reading and writing. The research follows these two teachers over 3 years by interview and observation. Although these teachers made substantial changes to the organisation and management of their literacy teaching, their pedagogical approach did not change. It is argued that although programmes and procedures may be mandated on a large scale, individual differences between teachers' may make the implementation of any such programme more variable in its impact than policy makers would like to expect.