ABSTRACT. In this article, we historicize affective dimensions of teaching by asking, What does it feel like to be a teacher in a particular time and place? We explore three blocs of affect that engulfed teachers in the 1955 to 1970 period: the mindlessness of U.S. schooling practices; the push for equal educational opportunity; and the aim to teach youth to think for themselves. We explore how Mr. Dadier’s teaching in the film, Blackboard Jungle, was animated by those historically contingent affects. We also explain why we have come to be interested in affects and how this work contributes to historicizing curriculum studies. pp. 19–35

Keywords: affect; animacy; educational reform; teaching; curriculum