This study, which examined the curricular decision making of student teachers, links research on the socialization of preservice teacher education with work focusing on socialization in the workplace. Interviews were conducted with four student teachers during their student teaching experience and 1 year after it. Curriculum materials used by the participants were examined, and some participants were observed teaching. The study found that: (1) the influence of particular institutional forces upon student teacher decision making is filtered through the cooperating teachers; (2) opportunities for significant student teacher curriculum decision making are severely limited; and (3) the school context discourages reflective approaches to teaching and incorporation of action research techniques. The study concludes that conception and execution of curriculum decisions are separated in practice for many student teachers. Therefore, student teachers do not experience important opportunities nor institutional pressures for personal decision making in the classroom. (Contains 22 references.) (JDD)