This paper examines the notion of teacher beliefs as complex ideological systems which have a bearing on actions. The focus is on the beliefs that students bring into their formal teacher education program, which are based on their predominantly authoritarian and didactic schooling experience. These students enter teacher education with unreflective and passive ways of knowing, and with beliefs about good teaching which were formed by their previous teachers. A discussion is presented on the reflective teaching program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, which attempts to implement a genuinely reflective curriculum seeking to induce change in beliefs about teaching. Analysis of program results has indicated that students retained their pre-existing beliefs about teaching and learning irrespective of whether they were constructivist and critical or authoritarian and didactic. The permeability of the individual student's beliefs is considered, as well as questions on the effect that socialization agents, such as teacher preparation and entry into the culture of schooling, have on student teachers' implicit and explicit belief systems concerning the nature of teaching and learning. A list of 12 questions provides a basis for further research on evolving beliefs about teaching and their implications for preservice teacher education. (JD)