It is well argued by many educational theorists that modernist views on education have kept schools in the United States similar to those of one hundred years ago when Dewey (1916) advocated for more democratic views of education. Dewey (1916) warned against the hierarchical structures in education, describing how information to be learned in classrooms trickles down from policy makers and universities to administrators to teachers who then "impose them upon children." Even with the encouragement of student centered learning, this still occurs today. Greene (1978) argues that perceptions toward teaching could evolve through teacher educators who "work to combat the sense of ineffectuality and powerlessness that comes when persons feel themselves to be victims of forces wholly beyond their control, in fact beyond any human control". However, "conditions must be deliberately created" (Greene 1988). One educational framework aiming to set up these conditions is philosophy for children Hawai'i (p4cHI). It is the use of a p4cHI framework in teacher education that is the basis for this study. This phenomenological study is a philosophical inquiry to expose "an understanding of the essences of the experience[s]" (Moustakas 1994) of teacher candidates participating in three different teacher education courses taught using a p4cHI approach. The 47 participants, including students and instructors, were observed in an ELA methods, social studies methods, and philosophy for children course over one semester. A crystallization framework (Ellingson 2009, 2011; Richardson 2008) was used to analyze the complexity of the qualitative data gathered through multiple instruments. Overall, data collected revealed a great appreciation toward the p4cHI approach, and most participants demonstrated tendencies toward dispositions that align with core principles of p4cHI: questioning, being reflective, and gaining an awareness toward new perspectives. However, even with the positive reactions, there were challenges as some questioned the reality of using p4cHI practices in their own classrooms. Participants quickly recognized a uniqueness to the three p4cHI-based courses. Analysis revealed that the largest challenges came in how many participants questioned whether the p4cHI practices would be accepted by hiring principals and other educators.