ABSTRACT
The same class, the same teacher, but a different response from two students who sit beside each other and are good friends. These three examples from Japan and Sweden illustrate a more general truth about learning and teaching. These examples raise the question of how aware teachers can be of what is going on in young people's minds as they sit, head down taking notes, or apparently listening and how teachers accommodate to the very different expectations that young people have of their teachers, classmates and the pace of teaching.
