This paper summarizes results of an ecological analysis designed to generate hypotheses concerning processes involved in learning to meet the demands of the classroom environment. Ethnographic data on student teachers indicates that classrooms are characterized by multidimensionality, simultaneity, and unpredictability. Teachers, in turn, developed strategies, such as chunking, differentiation, overlap, timing, and rapid judgment, to reduce the complexity of these demands. This ecological interpretation suggests that the classroom environment engendered specific teacher response patterns and that environmental demands influence skill utilization in classroom settings. Implications of the ecological approach for teaching research and teacher education are briefly discussed. (Author)