We believe that educators need to be competent in both content and pedagogy and be able to challenge learners' thinking. It has become increasingly necessary for the educator to be able to extend the classroom into the community and become a change agent for educational reform. Fullan (1993) links moral purpose and change agents. Moral purpose is defined as making a difference or bringing about improvements. "Moral purpose keeps teachers close to the needs of children and youth; change agentry causes them to develop better strategies for accomplishing their moral goals" (Fullan,1993).

Educators must be prepared with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to effectively participate in educational change and reform. Fullan (1993) outlines four core capacities necessary for one to become a skillful change agent. These are: personal vision building, inquiry, mastery, and collaboration.

Personal vision building entails not only the examination of one's purpose for wanting to be an educator and the ability to articulate a platform for future action. We believe educators must move beyond what is common place and "take a stand for a preferred future" (Bloc, 1987, p. 102).

Closely related to and necessary for the construction of a personal vision is the disposition of inquiry. Skillful inquiry is directed at examining information and ideas in the external environment and requires that internalization of norms and habits which support continuous learning. As change agents, we believe educators must be continuous learners in order to respond in a proactive manner to an increasingly complex and changing world.

Mastery is necessary for developing an effective change agent. Pedagogical content knowledge is essential for effectiveness in our profession and must be addressed. We believe mastery moves beyond the skillful practice of pedagogy in relation to subject matter. This requires educators to nurture a disposition of personal expertise in order to achieve a deeper understanding of existing conditions, proposed innovations, and potential futures.

Collaboration is also needed to foster one's capacity as a change agent. Through collaboration, educators extend exponentially the power of their personal mastery through the cultivation of group mastery.