Reform the schools, improve teaching: these battle cries of American education have been echoing for twenty years. So why does teaching change so little?

Arguing that too many would-be reformers know nothing about the conflicting demands of teaching, Mary Kennedy takes us into the controlled commotion of the classroom, revealing how painstakingly teachers plan their lessons, and how many different ways things go awry. Teachers try simultaneously to keep track of materials, time, students, and ideas. In their effort to hold all of these things together, they can inadvertently quash students' enthusiasm and miss valuable teachable moments.

Kennedy argues that pedagogical reform proposals that do not acknowledge all of the things teachers need to do are bound to fail. If reformers want students to learn, they must address all of the problems teachers face, not just those that interest them.

1. The Mysterious Gap between
Reform Ideals and
Everyday Teaching                 1
2. How Teachers Think
about Their Practices            31
3. Creating a Tranquil Environment  63
4. Managing Conversations
about Content                    95
5. Constructing the Day's Agenda  125
6. Sources of Problems in Teaching  157
7. Sources of Improvements
in Teaching                     201
8. The Problem of Reform          225
Appendix on Method              237
Notes                           269
References                      271
Index                           277