The College of Education at the University of Cincinnati agreed to examine its teacher education programs and initiate program changes within the broad framework provided by the Holmes initiatives. Those involved began by developing a conceptual framework for pursuing planning and implementation efforts in the college. Rather than proposing a master plan for teacher education reform, they agreed upon six principles of implementation which guided process planning: patterns, organic order and change, local decision making, individual program growth, evaluation, and coordination. The framework developed is grounded in the notion that a central component of expertise in a practical undertaking like teaching is a "language of practice." Since there was no language of practice for teaching, the researchers developed their own--a pattern language which embodies the goals and means for the program design and implementation. This paper discusses these process principles and the pattern language as a model for developing a theoretical framework for restructuring the university's teacher education programs. (Author/IAH)