Intellectual messiness is one of those perfect descriptors. I’m not sure where it originated, but I do like it, probably because messiness abounds in my mind. I have been frustrated lately by how old I am and how little I’ve figured out, especially about teaching and learning. Someone asks me a straightforward question, why is teaching so hard to improve, and all I have are the simple answers about competing demands, big classes, inadequate institutional support, and the complexity of teaching.
