Preparing teachers for schools of the 21st century

There are few subjects in the educational literature that have received more attention than the preparation of teachers. Virtually all of this literature is pervaded by the belief that central to the education of children is the competence of teachers, a belief that is as intuitively right as it is unsurprising. What is surprising is the inattention paid to the idea that what constitutes competence in teaching is intimately connected with the kind of education that we think students should receive. Put another way, what we want teachers to be able to do is related to the aspirations we hold for our children. And what aspirations do we hold for our children? What kind of outcomes do we seek? What kind of people do we hope they will become? In the United States such questions do not have uniform and tidy answers. Nor is there public consensus-beyond the so-called basicsconcerning priorities, direction, and manner in education. In many ways this lack of consensus is a strength rather than a weakness. Diversity in education breeds social complexity and social complexity can lead to a richness in culture that uniformity can never provide. What democratic cultures need is unity in diversity; both are necessary. In holding this view concerning the virtues of pluralism in education, I believe I am in a professional minority. There is in the United States a major effort now underway to create a national consensus on the goals and standards for American schools.' Indeed, many believe that American schools are not as