This paper analyses teachers' attitudes towards the use of textbooks as a means of understanding what happens in a heavily centralized education system. Whilst the research is based on a particular country, the lessons can be applied to many parts of the globalized education system. The research question here is to find out whether the teachers have freedom in varying their teaching methods or not. The main research method used was semi-structured interviews. The factors that decide this freedom are discussed in detail. Whilst the particular circumstances are peculiar to Jordan, they can be likened to the centralized national curriculum and an authoritative inspection regime in the UK.