This discussion outline develops the argument that there is significant dissonance between present efforts to promote the professionalization of teaching and the demands which societal expectations place on teacher education now and for the future. To develop this argument, an attempt is made to (1) identify some of the social conditions and trends which appear to be peculiarly relevant to teacher education and its institutional and organizational arrangements; (2) review briefly some of the efforts that have been made and are being made to professionalize teaching; (3) identify some of the points at which societal expectations, and the changes and actions they appear to demand, are in potential or actual conflict with actions designed to facilitate the professionalization of teaching; and (4) raise some questions regarding alternative possibilities for teacher education in the decade ahead. (Author/SG)