There has been an ongoing reflection and debate on the curriculum and teaching reform in primary education in China during the past two decades, covering various topics, including studentcentered teaching or teacher-centered teaching, teacherstudent relationship and educational authority, and educational philosophy and practice. The graduates of different types of normal universities were tracked and interviewed in depth within two years before and after they took their teaching posts in public schools to learn about teachers’ educational beliefs. In addition, their views on student education before and after they joined public schools were compared. Before entering their teaching roles in schools, the teacher-to-be university students tended to downplay the importance of their future students’ test scores and focus on an education that develops their independence, happiness, individuality and freedom. After assuming their posts in schools, the participants seemed to have adjusted their educational beliefs and demonstrated a preference for “obedient students” who were oriented towards achieving high test scores and agreed with the ideas that “there are limits to happy education” as well as “the power of education cannot reach all students.” Facing the disparities between the educational ideals in universities and the educational realities in schools, the novice teachers were more likely to reconstruct their educational beliefs to make them more in alliance with the realities. To some extent, the principles of the “New Curriculum Reform” are yet to be materialized in school practice.