Teaching Philosophies

What I have realized lately, through reading blogs and Twitter posts, and speaking with other educators, is that we all have different purposes as educators.  For example, I feel my goal as an educator is to help prepare my students for life.  Does that include for the next grade level?  Sure.  Does that mean college?  For some.  But what I truly want them to leave with is the ability to read well and write well, to have the skills that will help them get through many situations, whether it be college, a career, or simply 7th grade ELA class.  A co-worker I spoke with, however, thinks that his job is to prepare them for college.  Other teachers may think the goal is to pass The Test.  So, while all of us have goals, and they may overlap, they are still different.  Doesn't this mean that we are all going about what we teach differently?  I'm having a hard time understanding how we can ever improve education when we all have a different end goal in mind. 

I apologize if this is not very well-written.  I was hoping to come up with some answers as I wrote, so I let my thoughts take over, instead of my writing skills :)