"Empowered" teachers carefully consider the content of what is taught to children, are active in developing original curriculum based upon their own and/or their pupils' interests, and are able to creatively use materials, personal talents, and innovative resources in planning and implementing learning activities. This paper reports the findings of an interpretive field study of 10 "potentially empowered" elementary preservice teachers during their student teaching semester. After outlining the sampling procedures and research methods, a description is given of the "social world" within which these student teachers were placed, and the constraints they encountered. The political tactics and teaching strategies these teachers employed in response to this environment are presented. These included five distinctive tactics employed during their initiation into the teaching profession: (1) overt compliance during the first few weeks; (2) critical compliance; (3) accommodative resistance; (4) resistant alteration of instructional routine; and (5) transformative action and making individual curricular and instructional decisions. The idea of empowered teaching is examined in the light of the study's findings. Three pages of references and a list of informants' responses to the study are appended. (JD)