"The powerful, inspiring story of Andria Zafirakou, 'the best teacher in the world', and what it takes to work on the frontlines of education today"
What It Takes To Make the Next Generation
I was not too sure what to expect when picking up this book but having read the introduction and hearing the author speak on Woman’s Hour Radio 4, I was keen to start.
It is an incredibly readable book. Not what I was expecting, a book to inspire teachers, but a book packed with the most fascinating, and often quite harrowing stories of her pupils at Alperton Community School.
She talks about the children in such an insightful way, telling the reader not just about their time in the classroom, but about their background and their families and the huge impact this has on their abilities and successes in school. The difficulties and challenges some of her pupils’ face are both memorable and moving.
She conveys to the reader so clearly the effect that lack of language, cultural differences, cramped conditions and poverty can have on a child’s ability to learn. She looks at the whole person, beyond the bluff and bravado to the real child beneath. Her empathy with her pupils and the obvious passion for her subject really do shine through.
I liked her honesty. She believes that she is ‘almost an imposter’ and there are far more worthy winners of the Global Teachers Prize, but reading the many examples she writes about, I feel she is underselling herself. She intersperses her account with insights into her own life, her upbringing and her adult life with her family.
The book teaches us all valuable life lessons: Never judging a child on first impression and the importance of mutual respect are two themes that run throughout the book. I thought initially, it was a book for teachers, but this is a book for anyone. I think on reading it, we will all wish that we had had a teacher such as her when we were at school.
The powerful, inspiring story of Andria Zafirakou, 'the best teacher in the world', and what it takes to work on the frontlines of education today.
| Primary Genre | Books for Teachers |
Andria Zafirakou is a winner of the Global Teacher Prize and in this book she shares insights into her winning of the accolade, interspersed with stories about individual students she has worked with as an Arts teacher in an inner city London school where more than eighty languages are spoken.
Andria Zafirakou is a winner of the Global Teacher Prize and in this book she shares insights into her winning of the accolade, interspersed with stories about individual students she has worked with as an Arts teacher in an inner city London school where more than eighty languages are spoken.
Andria is a firm believer in the arts as a leveller in education and champions the arts as key to supporting students to find their voice and often to find their way. This was a particularly poignant as I was reading it during the week that the Government proposed cutting HE funding for many arts courses.... Read Full Review
The powerful, inspiring story of Andria Zafirakou, 'the best teacher in the world', and what it takes to work on the frontlines of education today. Arts teacher Andria Zafirakou was always a rule-breaker.
Those Who Can, Teach features in the following genres: Books for Teachers, Recommendations
Paperback, Hardback. £11.69, down from the £12.99 cover price. In Stock.
Those Who Can, Teach was written by Andria Zafirakou and published by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Those Who Can, Teach has 288 pages
£11.69, reduced from £12.99. In Stock.