"Simple acts of kindness" are not so simple. Broidy argues both for the complexity of kindness in action, and for the value of an approach to teachers' relationship with their students and other clients that is rooted in a "sensibility of kindness." Broidy's case for kindness begins by disentangling the concept of kindness from its many near relations. He traces the role of kindness and related concepts in both American educational history and in modern organizations promoting their versions of kindness.

Broidy explores the ways we decide ethical questions, focusing on the complex of perceptions, emotions, dispositions, and priorities that form our ethical sensibilities. He argues that a sensibility oriented toward kindness is the best foundation for a teaching ethic; and shows how new and working teachers can develop and employ such a teaching ethic.

Finally, he connects a kindness-oriented teaching ethic to the societal need to maintain and develop a long-term democratic ideal.