The arts and the cultivation of informed awareness should play a more central role in classroom life than they do, and student teachers should be empowered to make this, to some degree, possible. Student teachers have to be able to spend time thinking through what a rational explanation actually means, even as they have to understand what…

A rethinking of the definition of excellence is called for. It is suggested that a definition of excellence must go beyond narrow issues and include attention to the nature of the teacher, the subject matter that needs to be transformed and communicated, and the diversity of learners. Upon this triad of concerns, educators are challenged not to…

Discusses issues of unequal education and marginalization for members of various minority groups (homosexuals, women, and ethnic minorities). The paper emphasizes the need for a deepening consciousnes of inequalities, contradictions, and neglect and a curriculum that can provoke people to reach past themselves and be recognized. (SM)

The commitment of educators to human development goals is a major theme of the booklet's 17 essays. Compiled from lectures written by the author during 1974-77, the essays explore individual potential, the cultural significance of various life situations, and personal fulfillment within each individual's particular landscape of work, experience,…