This book is designed to help teachers critically assess major ideas about what teaching is and should be. Using both classical and contemporary perspectives, three basic approaches to teaching are offered, and the strengths and weaknesses of each are explored. The "executive approach" views the teacher as an executor, using the best learning skills and techniques available to bring about the process of learning. The "therapist approach" views the teacher as an empathetic person helping individuals grow and reach higher levels of self-actualization, understanding, and acceptance. The "liberationist approach" views the teacher as a liberator, a freer of the individual's mind and a developer of well-rounded, autonomous, rational, and moral human beings. Through integration of these three approaches, a method of attaining these multiple educational goals can be found. A series of realistic vingnettes are presented in the form of cases, dialogues, and disputes. These "Cases and Issues" demonstrate that the way teachers approach their teaching makes a real difference in how they act and react as teachers in real-life situations. (JD)