Salinas De Gortari (1988) gave a high priority to teaching as part of his agenda developed during his term as president in the last six years. The current Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo also from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) continues to vigorously support a similar educational policy after assum- ing power in 1 December 1994. Moreover, Zedillo himself helped design the educational agenda as one of the four In the mid-1990s I was asked by the World Bank to carry out a short-term study of the teacher education component of the PARE program. Analysis of secondary research reports and program documents, and a week of classroom and school obser- vations and interviews with program personnel and participants (teachers, principals and supervisors) served as sources of data. Using what I learned in this preliminary study, I examine the challenges associated with the introduction of constructivist approaches to educate rural teachers using Mexico’s PARE as a case study. Teaching and Teacher Education 15 (1999) 15—35 Improving teacher education in rural Mexico: The challenges and tensions of constructivist reform Maria Teresa Tatto Michigan State University, College of Education, 513D Erickson Hall, East Lansing: MI 48824, U.S.A. Abstract In this article I examine the challenges facing constructivist approaches to educate rural teachers using an innovative program in Mexico. Constructivist approaches seek to help teachers learn new ways of thinking about teaching and learning, acquire better knowledge of different subject matters, form learning communities allowing teacher participation in the development of norms to facilitate shared understandings and dialogue, and develop democratic structures of authority in schools. But the urgency in Mexico for fast and massive educational change in a system with ingrained traditions of control and centralized hierarchical authority, and a disregard for the complexity of educational change processes may bring about a superficial implementation of the teacher education reform thus threatening the success and integrity of the constructivist approach, and introducing confusion and relativism among teachers and adminis- trators.  1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Teacher education, Educational reform, Constructivism, Mexico Raising the quality of teaching in Mexico has emerged as a government priority and as a key factor in the improvement of education across the country. As a consequence, in addition to the long-standing Normal de Maestros, new ap- proaches have evolved over the years in an ad hoc manner to fill perceived gaps or to respond to the 0742-051X/98/$19.00  1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 7 4 2 - 0 5 1 X ( 9 8 ) 0 0 0 3 0 - 4