In this article, the author explores one issue that he believes is central to the preparation of teachers to teach in democratic societies: the question of who should prepare teachers to do this important work. Currently, there are basically two general approaches to the preservice education of teachers in the United States despite all the program…

Two myths concerning the value of preservice field-based experience are explored: (1) Practical school experience contributes to the development of better teachers; and (2) Teacher education's institutional structures are totally coercive and students passively conform to school bureaucracies' conservative norms. (JN)

In an inquiry-oriented teacher education program, prospective teachers are encouraged to examine the origins and consequences of their actions and settings in which they work. Many of the characteristics of the elementary student teaching program at the University of Wisconsin at Madison are similar to this approach. During the students' 15-week…