ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that implementing oral inquiry process cohorts among novice and more experienced teachers is a step in the right direction if no other support practices are in place, argues that they should really be one aspect of a broader system of support. A member of the Teachers College cohort, Ann fell into a category that colleges have taken to calling non-traditional students, those who either start or return to college later in life. Growing up in the metro Washington DC area, Ann attended a large high school of over 2,000 students with sharply defined academic tracks. In many ways, Ann's perceptions about school, based on her experiences as a student generations prior, were violated by the teaching context in which she found herself. Ann's expectation that all students would be at least compliant and would more closely replicate her more upper middle-class school experience created an experiential mismatch.
