The routinization and ritualization of school reflects, in part, an emphasis on acquisition of knowledge and technical mastery of skills rather than understanding and the ability to apply information to new situations. A societal environment needs to be created that promotes learning as more than an aggregation of facts and answers to test questions. Researchers should examine more carefully understanding, values, and attitudes acquired through schooling, rather than the effectiveness of one method over another in terms of achievement. Administrators should place more emphasis on learning environments in schools and less on the bureaucratic structures used to systematize them. Schools of education must prepare teachers who are open-minded, knowledgeable, and skillful in creating a participatory learning experience for students. A carefully designed teacher education curriculum which balances subject-matter knowledge with professional education is needed. Teacher preparation students must become aware of the interdisciplinary nature of knowledge, and how times, events, inventions, people, and ideas interact to form the human experience. (JD)