This study examined 28 preservice teachers' interpretations of a 9-hour, field-based reading block. Qualitative analyses of varied data sources, including surveys, journals, and interviews, revealed that during the block experience the students (a) became more prepared and confident to teach children who experience reading difficulties, (b) developed new conceptions of teaching and learning processes, and (c) gained a more positive attitude toward and respect for the teaching profession. We argue that these preservice teachers' professional growth was facilitated by an integrated block of courses that affords time, intensity, and richness of experience, and by a learning context consistent with the social constructivist principles. We further suggest that it is possible to design and implement a coherent curriculum that is at once "intensely academic" and "intensely practical," one that emphasizes the cultivation of professional knowledge and wisdom without losing sight of the need for skills development.