ABSTRACT
In any work devoted to the position that critical thinking has a fundamentally important place in American education, the question of how to prepare professional educators to implement that teaching is essential to discuss. A prime historical reason, although not the only reason, for the nonsystematic inclusion of critical thinking in American classrooms has been the lack of commitment to that area on the part of the institutions that prepare future educators. But this lack of commitment has its roots in the society at large, inasmuch as the shape of teacher education characteristically follows the priorities that it believes must reflect what the general society desires; this following, rather than leading, on the part of the educator-preparation profession is an unfortunate indicator of a lack of pro-active initiative on the part of that profession. Thus, any discussion of educator preparation is seamlessly bound up with a view of society's values and beliefs about what is important in educating young persons.
