1. Community
2. Critical Reflection
3. Intellectual, Personal, and Professional Growth
4. Meaningful Experience
5. Knowledge and Multiple Forms of Understanding
6. Personalized learning
   

1. Community

Effective teacher preparation requires that participants develop a sense of community. The longevity of relationships required to establish community has several advantages for all its members. It brings coherence to programs, fosters an appreciation of the power of cooperative effort, and encourages a dialogue that promotes the continual rejuvenation of teacher education. Consequently, all our teacher education programs must foster a sense of community among their students, among faculty members, between faculty members and students, and between the university and the schools.

2. Critical Reflection

Effective teachers reflect critically on the moral, political, social, and economic dimensions of education. This requires an understanding of the multiple contexts in which schools function, an appreciation of diverse perspectives on educational issues, and a commitment to democratic forms of interaction. Consequently, all our teacher education programs must encourage students to develop their own social and educational visions that are connected to critically reflective practice.

3. Intellectual, Personal, and Professional Growth

Teachers who are more than technicians or mere purveyors of information must be committed to lifelong intellectual, personal, and professional growth. Both faculty and students must continually develop these habits of mind, requiring that our programs stimulate the exploration and development of the full range of human capabilities. Consequently, all our teacher education programs must foster intellectual curiosity and encourage an appreciation of learning through intuition, imagination, and aesthetic experience.

4. Meaningful Experience

Teachers must be effective in actual educational settings. Accordingly, our teacher education program must maintain or create experiences in schools and on campus that will assist in the development of their expertise in those settings. Students should be expected to act as thoughtful, reflective, caring practitioners as part of those experiences, and instructors must be able to assess their abilities in such settings. Consequently, all our teacher education programs must include early and continuous engagement- through direct immersion or simulation- with the multiple realities of children, teaching, and schools.

5. Knowledge and Multiple Forms of Understanding

Effective teachers possess a well-grounded knowledge of the content areas that are central to their teaching. They also have an in-depth comprehension of the forms of knowledge embodied in the traditional disciplines, of the interdisciplinary nature of inquiry, and of the multiple forms of understanding which individual students bring to the classroom. Consequently, all our teacher education programs must help students acquire a "practical wisdom" that integrates forms of understanding, skilled action in and outside classrooms, and a particular sensitivity to the diversity of students.

6. Personalized learning

Good teachers build on their students' interests, learning styles, and goals. Similarly, teacher education should offer its students opportunities to individualize and personalize their preparation as teachers. Consequently, all our teacher education programs must give students a significant measure of control over how, when, and where their learning takes place, thus enabling their interests and values to shape major portions of their work.