Editors’ Introduction: Classroom Performances

Argues that what matters in being a good student is not an innate set of skills and dispositions but an understanding of what, where, when, and how to perform through particular situations. Teachers set the ground rules for what kinds of performances are acceptable in the classroom, and a classroom is a contact zone in which different sets of values, skills, and expectations coexist. The articles in this issue demonstrate how teachers and students manage to negotiate this contact.