James W. Garrison is Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Anthony G. Rud, Jr. is Associate Dean in the School of Education at Purdue University.

"This is a timely and well-written contribution to a growing body of literature in education that emphasizes the moral as distinct from the 'performance evaluation' and other 'standardized' procedures for testing teachers and 'measuring' their work. Certain chapters, such as the ones discussing the tragic dimension of teaching, irony, style, luck, and soul, present a diversity of ways in which the moral dimension of teaching may be addressed; and they discuss these ideas in a compelling way." — J. J. Chambliss, Rutgers University"This is a collection of engaging, thought-provoking, well written pieces that provides a welcome counterweight to most of what's being written on teaching in scholarly circles today. The works avoid both the narrowly technical formulations of much mainstream research on teaching, and the kinds of ideologically freighted discourse that often serves as an alternative to it. In so doing, they invite rethinking and reflection on teaching." — Paul Farber, Western Michigan University

• Foreword by Nel Noddings Preface 1. IntroductionJames W. Garrison and Anthony G. Rud Jr. 2. Luck, Responsibiity, and Excellence in TeachingShirley Pendelbury 3. Authority and the Tragic Dimension of TeachingNicholas G. Burbules 4. Style and the Art of TeachingJames W. Garrison 5. Pragmatism and the Ironic Teacher of VirtueAlven Neiman 6. EmptinessLeonard J. Waks 7. SoulSophie Haroutunian-Gordon 8. Some Thoughts on Privacy in ClassroomsC. J. B. Macmillan 9. Learning in Comfort: Developing an Ethos of Hospitality in EducationAnthony G. Rud Jr. 10. Intellectual and Institutional Gaps in Teacher EducationDaniel P. Liston Notes Bibliography Index