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The unofficial “diversity curriculum” of an urban high school and how it is negotiated by prospective teachers during field experience and student‐teaching experiences are examined. The school setting, including the people within it, communicate messages such as “who we are” and “how we do things here.” The intermediary construct of institutional habitus is used theoretically and analytically to focus institutional setting and illuminate how it shapes prospective teachers' understanding and practice.[diversity, teacher education, social context, habitus]

Interviews with a diverse group of juniors and seniors from three secondary schools in the northeastern United States revealed substantial agreement in their images of America. Three themes predominated: inequity associated with race, gender, socioeconomic status, or disability; freedom including rights and opportunities; and diversity based on race, ethnicity, culture, and geography. Three additional themes were voiced by at least one third of the students: America as better than other nations, progress, and the American Dream. Crosscutting these themes were a sense of individualism or personalization and an incipient critique and/or activism expressed by more than 30% of the students. Sources of or influences on students’ images of America also were investigated as were changes over time. Although not overly positive, what students do know about the United States is both realistic and generally supportive of the nation-state. There are, however, grounds for concern insofar as the major themes about which students agree play out differently for different individuals and groups, masking deep societal tensions and fissures.

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Among the proposed responses if not solutions to the variously identified problems of U.S. education and teacher education is the creation of clinical faculty positions in teacher-education programs. Clinical faculty are outstanding, experienced elementary and secondary school teachers who work with college and university teacher-education programs. In this article, we examine the roles and relationships of clinical faculty in university teacher-education programs to understand better (a) how clinical faculty might contribute to the improvement of teacher education, and (b) obstacles to clinical faculty becoming a regular part of teacher-education programs. We begin by surveying the current roles of clinical faculty and their relationships with other players in teacher-education programs. Then we sketch a brief history of clinical faculty to provide perspective on the present. We conclude by critically reexamining roles and relationships and by considering implications for teacher-education reform with emphasis on the obstacles to institutionalization of clinical faculty programs.