This article examines factors which contribute to the development of professional thinking in the helping professions, including teaching.

The basis for my presentation will be two literary masterpieces: Charlotte Brontė's Villette and Mrs. Gaskell's biography of its author, The Life of Charlotte Brontė. Villette is Charlotte Brontė's last, most mature work, and its heroine, Lucy Snowe, is a barely veiled portrait of the author. Based on Mrs. Gaskell's Life, my prelude follows Charlotte Brontė almost to the boat that takes her to a girl's school in Belgium which is the place of action in Villette. Here Lucy Snowe, a waif, starts out as nursery governess and progresses to becoming a teacher, dreaming of a school of her own. My epilogue returns to the author's life. Gathering up the events of her middle years, I will trace the twists of fate that yielded us Villette. And I will try to determine just why it is that Mrs. Gaskell calls Charlotte Brontė a woman of extraordinary genius and noble virtue.

Although American education has come to be seen in a continuum of experience that spans family, community, the world of work, and everyday life, this emphasis conflicts with two educational goals: promoting equality of opportunity and developing disciplinary understanding. A response and a rejoinder follow this article.

A rejoinder to Egan's response.

In this chapter I consider the import of this critique for research communication. What can educational researchers say to practitioners, and what, as Dewey put it, are "the traits that mark off opinion and assent from authorized convictions?" What rhetoric used in communication is appropriate to (educational) research as a form of knowing?

The author argues that, for many teacher actions, personal reasons are subordinate to external standards and that the scope of these actions is broader than assumed. People in a professional role must ask whether their actions and general dispositions conform to given standards and goals.

This article uses three vignettes to illustrate the pitfalls that must be overcome if classroom experience during teacher preparation is to serve the broad purposes of learning to teach. These pitfalls mislead prospective teachers into believing that central aspects of teaching have been mastered and understood.

Talking about educational theories, practice, and goals can: (1) bring the context-bound, partial, and tentative nature of educational knowledge claims to light; (2) make participants aware of their commitments to several (often conflicting) goals; and (3) remind people that educational research itself often aims to persuade and to change beliefs.