The focus of this article is to describe a social organization of instruction and identify the conditions and contexts of critical classroom inquiry that are essential components of contemporary teacher education programs. Novice teachers must develop both the need to know and dispositions for knowing in order to move away from transmission-oriented teaching and learning toward inquiry-oriented practice. Theoretical arguments for and practical applications of inquiry within teacher education programs are described, including: (a) recursive cycles of inquiry, (b) reflective practice, (c) continuity of experiences within critical friend teaching partnerships, (d) discourse and documentation (making visible children's and teachers' thinking), and (e) the role of teacher educators in creating "contexts of need" for classroom inquiry. These are discussed and applied across four levels of contiguous courses and related practica. Selected examples of the processes and products that exemplify the development of preservice teacher collaborative inquiry within an early childhood, fifth-year teacher education program are included, although applications may be extended to the broader field of teacher education. (Contains 1 table, 4 figures, and 5 footnotes.)