Although much has been written about the potential applications for computers in the classroom, instructional computing has not so far affected classrooms and teaching practice in the manner or to the degree in which it was foretold. An analysis of the discourse surrounding educational computing reveals conceptions of teaching and prescriptions for practice encoded within the language. For example: (1) computer education is elevated to the status of traditional subjects (reading, mathematics, social studies) and is supported by specialized administrative personnel; (2) in identifying instruction about and with computers as "computer literacy," technical knowledge becomes a form of literacy and represents a power agenda for reform and control; and (3) when the model for computer education elevates those teachers who use computers to positions on advisory committees and/or designates them as staff specialists, their practice is publicly acknowledged as more desirable and commendable. The discourse denies teachers the autonomy, recognition, and validity of their own self-interests, and may result in the role of teaching moving farther from a pedagogic and closer to a management model. (21 references) (DB)