This, it is argued, has led to a situation of ‘uniformity, conformity and compliance’ and the prescription of alignment, consensus and consistency through bureaucratic and authoritarian control, a position ‘which is antithetical to democratic participation’ (Delandshere and Petrosky 2004, 126, 133; see also Apple 2001; Hartley 2000). There have been a few exceptions to this model of teacher education that have tried to provide a critical social and political perspective on education and more democratic and participatory experiences for student teachers (Bankov 2007; Zeichner and Liston 1987; Beyer 2001; Harber and Meighan 1986), but they remain a very small minority.