The social climate in Manitoba has led, in the past 25 years, to an expectation of school reform that has been translated into varieties of political action. However, most of the reforms, instituted by government policymakers, have fallen short of public expectations. This paper explores lessons to be taken from these experiences in school reform and proposes new ways of achieving excellence in compulsory schooling in Manitoba. In the past, Manitoba has attempted to realize excellence in five main ways: curriculum fixing, authority sharing, school setting humanizing, school setting engineering, and effective teaching. The first four ways have failed, for various reasons, to effect significant change in the schools. The fifth way--effective teaching--has been (to some degree), and can continue to be, the main road toward educational reform. Teachers must, however, be more adequately prepared and nurtured in their role of school reformer. Teacher education must encourage a "critical manner" in teachers that focuses on curriculum, pedagogy, and conditions for planning and implementation. Teachers must think more clearly about what, how, and why they teach. Supervisory practices must also be conducive to the development of this critical manner in teachers. Twenty-two references are appended. (IW)