A review of problems inherent in enhancing written guides for teachers is presented, focusing on the impact of different conceptions of educational practice and teaching. The goal of this review is to formulate theoretical perspectives and practical precepts for authors and readers of guides for educational practice and teaching. Conceptions and assumptions regarding method, knowledge, and rules of action are discussed as background to an analysis of teaching as technology, art, and craft. Each conception is further examined to illustrate how it is likely to influence the form in which teaching practices are codified. Three perspectives which have been used in this endeavor are: (1) the nomothetic view of educational practice as a technology with laws, commonalities, and regularities; (2) the ideographic orientation, which treats educational practice as an art with unique and idiosyncratic aspects; and (3) teaching as a craft, in which established instructional guidelines are adapted by the practitioner. Implications and conclusions are drawn, and teaching as technology, art, and craft are compared and contrasted. (FG)