Three theoretical perspectives guide this discussion of teacher development: symbolic interactionism, critical social theory, and theories of postmodernity. Drawing on these perspectives, key dimensions of teacher development can be addressed. Good teaching involves competence in technical skills, but it also involves moral purpose; emotional investment (desire); and political awareness, adeptness, and acuity. The practice and research of teacher development should address all these dimensions, and what really matters is the interactions among and integration between them. Focusing on technical competence in isolation can make teacher development into a narrow, utilitarian exercise that does not question the purposes and parameters of what teachers do. Focusing on moral purpose and moral virtue alone can result in missionary fervor that is blind to the differences in values, competence, or working conditions among colleagues. Political strategies pursued in isolation can make teachers carping and hypercritical, falling into the trap of careerism and opportunism. Exclusive emphasis on emotional development can create teachers who are narcissistic and self-indulgent. Meeting the challenge of teacher development in the postmodern world requires attention to all these dimensions. (Contains approximately 170 references.) (JDD)