The well-educated teacher is one who not only demonstrates mastery of their subject matter, but has a broad enough liberal education so as to be effective in virtually any area and with any student in the process of involving them in their own education. In preparing to become a teacher, the new student is put first through the rigors of academic education, then through the process of practical application. In order to get this form of education, teaching systems have set standards. In California, unlike many other states, the base requirement for entry into a teaching program is the completion of a liberal arts degree, not a narrowly-focused methodology approach. The new teacher is asked to broaden their own horizons as well as their students so as to bring the greatest level of inclusion, excitement, and passion to the classroom. There are, in addition to the state-based requirements, a plethora of theoretical and practical approaches to educating teachers. It is the purpose of this paper to examine some of those requirements and approaches to demonstrate how current methodologies and programs effectively prepare well-educated teachers.
