This paper describes the theoretical framework that underlies the Teachers as Decision Maker Program (TADMP) at Indiana University and the development of a conceptual framework of seven teacher perspectives. The four components of the theoretical framework guiding both TADMP research and the program itself are pedagogical schemata, professional knowledge, thematic teacher education, and teacher perspectives. The first phase of research involved 68 TADMP preservice teachers, representing a variety of backgrounds and ranging in age from 23 to 51 who had been in the program since its inception. Data were collected through autobiographical interviews, concept mapping, stimulated recall interviews, and classroom observations with follow-up interviews. This phase of research led to a conceptual framework of seven teacher perspectives, presented as a color wheel. The seven perspectives on teaching are: (1) inculcator: transmission of academic content knowledge as central to teaching; (2) empowerer: teaching as social action or change; (3) friendly pedagogue: teaching as lesson preparation and teacher personality characteristics; (4) facilitator: thinking and lifelong learning as the principal goals of teaching; (5) nurturer: teaching primarily as interactions with students; (6) friendly scholar: transmission of academic knowledge balanced with a desire to make knowledge relevant and learning fun; and (7) scholar psychologists, a mix of all perceptions. The second phase of the research involved 25 participants in a series of interventions intended to help students clarify their beliefs and assumptions about teaching and reflect upon their teacher perspectives during TADMP. Three case studies are used to illustrate how the color wheel can enhance self examination and growth during the beginning phases of becoming a teacher; the third case also looks at possibilities for screening partnerships between students and mentor teachers. Based on the findings, the paper concludes that the color wheel provides a complex yet comprehensible way to reflect upon and discuss the multiple perspectives teachers hold, and encourages a proactive approach to problem solving by framing problems in terms of potential mismatches between these perspectives and conditions they encounter in school. (Contains 45 references.) (ND)