This book is an account of the present condition of secondary schooling. It is chiefly concerned with the plight of the anonymous pupils - children who disguise their potential and elude the teachers' interest and affection, and those who pass through the system unnoticed because they are neither especially gifted nor especially disruptive and do not represent a challenge or problem to their teachers. The author argues, in a sequence of case-studies, that their plight is a useful key to understanding some of the shortcomings of secondary education in Britain. Drawing on his own experience as a teacher in comprehensive and special schools, James Pye asks what accrues when teachers and pupils think highly of one another, and what fails when they do not know each other at all. He highlights the constraints that thwart teachers' intentions and questions whether it is possible for successful learning for all to take place in large classes. The work is intended to be of value to both parents, teachers and all who are concerned about the educational system.