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From International Socialism, No.12, Spring 1963, p.29.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
No Place Like School
Kathleen Gibberd
Michael Joseph, 18s.
What is it really like to be a teacher? Kathleen Gibberd, ex-teacher turned journalist, describes teachers on the job and reports illuminating conversations the has had with heads and assistants. It is clear that teachers are the most important single ingredient of a successful education system; clear too how much education in England awes to their dedicated work. Platitudinous Ministerial lip-service is seldom translated into positive rewards; and inadequate buildings, overcrowded classes, and chronic teacher-shortage are the environment in which too many teachers have to fight their Sisyphean battle on behalf of positive social values and organized curiosity, against all to-day’s negative influences. The forward-looking teachers whose enthusiasm and flair Miss Gibberd has so faithfully captured have achieved remarkable successes despite the poverty of their educational environment; how much more would they, and others like them, be able to achieve if only we had a Government prepared to give education its rightful priority in the nation’s affairs.
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Last updated on 31.10.2006