Chapter 7: More Journey than End: A Case Study of Ambitious Teaching¹

The construct of “wise practice” has much appeal. Researchers long have focused on “typical” classrooms, teachers, and students. As such, their reports are more valuable as a baseline than as an image of what is possible. Research that illustrates the practices of wise teachers broadens our sense of what classroom teaching truly can be and helps us imagine new and more robust roles for both teachers and their students.

Like every social interaction, powerful teaching develops in real and varied contexts. Broad characterizations of wise practice provide a useful conversational shorthand, but they are insufficient. Invaluable are rich, nuanced, and contextualized portraits of teachers working to enrich their practices. In my recent work (Grant, 2003), I have been using the language of ambitious teaching to represent the challenges that teachers face as they try to teach wisely in complex environs. Ambitious teaching develops (a) when teachers know their subject matter well and see within it the potential to enrich their students’ lives; (b) when teachers know their students well, which includes understanding the kinds of lives their students lead, how these youngsters think about and perceive the world, and that they are far more capable than they and most others believe them to be; and (c) when teachers know how to create the necessary space for themselves and their students in environments in which others (e.g., administrators, other teachers) may not appreciate either of their efforts. Ambitious teachers deeply understand their subject matter and their students, and they are willing to push hard to create opportunities for powerful teaching and learning despite contextual factors (e.g., state curriculum, state tests, unsupportive administrators, and colleagues) that may be pushing them in different directions.