Teachers should be viewed as decision makers who are required hourly to make serious value choices, who serve both individuals and society, who are in an institution where real power differentials exist, and whose learning and teaching responsibilities are increasingly supported by an empirical research tradition requiring highly situational interpretation. Four images of the teacher's role are: (1) the teacher as an artist, prepared by practitioners and master performers in the fashion of an apprentice; (2) the teacher as a moral craftsman, which implies the selection, training, and support of teachers who have the propensity or capacity for making moral decisions; (3) the teacher as an applied scientist, with teacher preparation that is keyed to the research base on teaching effectiveness and carried out in clinical sites; and (4) the teacher as a decision maker, focusing on decision making functions and responsibilities. Three areas of these roles are explored: the knowledge a decision-maker image would require teachers to acquire; preparation models for teacher education; and selection criteria for future teachers. (JD)