Using Foucault's conceptualization of "care of the self," this article considers the ways in which social studies methods courses can better address preservice teachers' agency. The author considers the intentionality of two preservice teachers and uses the notion of "care of the self" to explore the preservice teachers' thinking about individual agency and the socialized structures of schooling and the teaching profession. Initially, the preservice teachers engaged in ethical practices that constructed resistance and creative challenges to the perceived normalizing aspects of social studies curriculum; however, when confronted with the socializing aspects of the teaching profession the preservice teachers were unable to synthesize their intentions and ethical practices with the constraints of the schools. The preservice teachers' inability to synthesize their purpose for teaching with the perceived curricular and professional norms in schools had implications for their agency. The author suggests preservice teachers must reimagine their agency as individual ethical practice to be achieved in context, and not as a regulated possession.