Teachers spend a lot of time with their pupils – talking and listening to them, observing and guiding them. What can we learn from teachers about helping kids become compassionate, contented and successful grown-ups, as well as conscientious global citizens?

In Lessons in Life, Andria Zafirakou – the 2018 Global Teacher Prize winner – talks to 30 of the best teachers in the world willing to share their insight and wisdom, gained from years of working with children of all ages.

They include:

Ranjitsinh Disale (Global Teacher Prize winner 2020), a primary teacher who turned a cattle shed in the drought-prone village of Paritewadi in India into a school. His many skills include showing his pupils how to broaden their horizon, and to become advocates for change;

Peter Tabichi (Global Teacher Prize winner 2019), a maths and physics teacher in the Rift Valley Province in Kenya, regularly impacted by famine, who has found a way to make his students care about their studies and believe in a future they can be part of, despite the hardship all around them.

Esther Wojcicki (California Teacher of the Year 2002), a leading American teacher who challenged traditional school rules in her lessons to allow her students to take control, learn to believe in themselves and feel empowered.

Andrew Moffat (MBE for services to equality in education 2017), a primary teacher in Birmingham who created a teaching resource called ‘Challenging Homophobia in Primary Schools’ to help his pupils understand the importance of tolerance and open-mindedness.

The result is an inspiring, moving and fascinating read that will help parents identify a child’s potential and give them the tools to shine. To know what these incredible teachers know and see what they see is a privilege and a gift.

‘Faiza’s work is living proof that you don’t have to choose between focusing on class and battling racism, or to triangulate on hate in order to advance a political cause. She’s a testament to the power of rising with your community, and not out of it’ Ash Sarkar

‘Shaheen overcame a plethora of barriers to get to Oxford and become a leading statistician. In this thought-provoking read, she uses her own unlikely story to probe how society defines your chances in life – and what we can do about it’  i

At four years old, Dr Faiza Shaheen was told by her mum that one day she would study at the University of Oxford. As the daughter of a car mechanic attending state schools, the odds were low, but she worked hard and succeeded. Today, she’s a leading statistician and standing for election as a Member of Parliament.
 
Why do we glorify success as personal triumph like this? These narratives purposely erase the role of public services, where you are born, and luck – and they tell us that anyone can follow the same path.
 
Rather than making working-class mobility the norm, what Faiza accomplished makes her an exception, and it’s statistically impossible for everyone to be the exception. The inconvenient truth, as this book proves, is that social mobility is a fairy tale. Society today will not give most of us the chance of a secure and fulfilling life. That is unacceptable.
 
Part memoir, part polemic, Know Your Place is a personal and statistical look at how society and the economy are structured, what really defines your life chances and how our current system keeps us locked into an ugly hierarchy. But more than that, it’s a powerful call for collective fighting to reinvent things as we want them to be; it’s about breaking out, finding hope and not staying in your place. We can change things, and this is how.

‘Faiza’s work is living proof that you don’t have to choose between focusing on class and battling racism, or to triangulate on hate in order to advance a political cause. She’s a testament to the power of rising with your community, and not out of it’ Ash Sarkar

‘Shaheen overcame a plethora of barriers to get to Oxford and become a leading statistician. In this thought-provoking read, she uses her own unlikely story to probe how society defines your chances in life – and what we can do about it’  i

At four years old, Dr Faiza Shaheen was told by her mum that one day she would study at the University of Oxford. As the daughter of a car mechanic attending state schools, the odds were low, but she worked hard and succeeded. Today, she’s a leading statistician and standing for election as a Member of Parliament.
 
Why do we glorify success as personal triumph like this? These narratives purposely erase the role of public services, where you are born, and luck – and they tell us that anyone can follow the same path.
 
Rather than making working-class mobility the norm, what Faiza accomplished makes her an exception, and it’s statistically impossible for everyone to be the exception. The inconvenient truth, as this book proves, is that social mobility is a fairy tale. Society today will not give most of us the chance of a secure and fulfilling life. That is unacceptable.
 
Part memoir, part polemic, Know Your Place is a personal and statistical look at how society and the economy are structured, what really defines your life chances and how our current system keeps us locked into an ugly hierarchy. But more than that, it’s a powerful call for collective fighting to reinvent things as we want them to be; it’s about breaking out, finding hope and not staying in your place. We can change things, and this is how.

‘Told with the verve and immediacy of a novel’ – Iain Sinclair

A former carer, primary school teacher and education researcher, Matt Lloyd-Rose became a volunteer police officer to try to understand the challenges facing young people in Brixton, the place he lived and taught. He got more than he bargained for. Each Friday evening, he put on the uniform and policed South London: racing through it on blue lights, patrolling its streets, entering a parallel version of a place he thought he knew.

Into the Night takes the reader on a journey to the heart of our society’s most complex and controversial institution, showing the best and worst of ordinary policing: from macho thrill-seeking and shocking misogyny to quiet moments of kindness and care. Its pages are filled with the homeless, the lonely, the sick and the angry, with teenage gang members, confused drunks, violent partners, runaway dogs and an illegal hot-dog vendor who won’t take no for an answer.

At its heart, Into the Night is an exploration of what it would mean to reframe policing as a caring, rather than enforcement, role. It is also a luminous portrait of South London, the epicentre of Britain’s struggle against racist policing, surfacing hidden histories of resistance and abuse.

‘An important and timely book written with empathy and real life experience’ – Shami Chakrabarti

‘A textured, compassionate book about cities, loss wounded souls.’ – Sukhdev Sandhu

Teachers spend a lot of time with their pupils – talking and listening to them, observing and guiding them. What can we learn from teachers about helping kids become compassionate, contented and successful grown-ups, as well as conscientious global citizens?

In Lessons in Life, Andria Zafirakou – the 2018 Global Teacher Prize winner – talks to 30 of the best teachers in the world willing to share their insight and wisdom, gained from years of working with children of all ages.

They include:

Ranjitsinh Disale (Global Teacher Prize winner 2020), a primary teacher who turned a cattle shed in the drought-prone village of Paritewadi in India into a school. His many skills include showing his pupils how to broaden their horizon, and to become advocates for change;
Peter Tabichi (Global Teacher Prize winner 2019), a maths and physics teacher in the Rift Valley Province in Kenya, regularly impacted by famine, who has found a way to make his students care about their studies and believe in a future they can be part of, despite the hardship all around them.
Esther Wojcicki (California Teacher of the Year 2002), a leading American teacher who challenged traditional school rules in her lessons to allow her students to take control, learn to believe in themselves and feel empowered.
Andrew Moffat (MBE for services to equality in education 2017), a primary teacher in Birmingham who created a teaching resource called ‘Challenging Homophobia in Primary Schools’ to help his pupils understand the importance of tolerance and open-mindedness.

The result is an inspiring, moving and fascinating read that will help parents identify a child’s potential and give them the tools to shine. To know what these incredible teachers know and see what they see is a privilege and a gift.

‘Challenging and hopeful: a groundbreaking guide to the future’ Valerie Amos

To thrive in the twenty-first century, we all need to understand the challenges coming our way. And start adapting, now.

We all know there are major, overlapping, global crises ahead of humanity: climate change, mass migration, new warfare, big tech, further pandemics, authoritarian capitalism. Rather than be daunted, this book charts a way that we can respond. With expertise from his work at the highest levels of international politics, education, activism and business, Tom Fletcher offers a practical manifesto that can help us transform the way we learn, live, and work together.

Amongst its key survival skills, this book offers ideas on how we renew education, restore society and reimagine the future. It helps us chart a course to take back control, to find purpose, and to become better ancestors. It helps us to learn the language of technology – without thinking like computers. It offers 39 steps that each of us can start to take today to boost our survivability.

Vital, practical and accessible, this is a book about how we can anticipate the threats and opportunities of tomorrow and be ready for them – individually and collectively.

A heart-warming and hilarious look at life in the classroom from the teachers who host the most popular UK education podcast, Two Mr Ps in a Pod(Cast).

Have you ever wondered what really happens during the day when your precious little angels are at school?

In this book, The Two Mr Ps will take you on a side-splittingly funny journey through the weird and wonderful world of primary schools. It will also explore the pressures of modern-day teaching, revealing exactly what it takes to wrangle a chaotic classroom (or seven) on a weekly basis. From the absolute characters found in the staffroom to school-trip mishaps and everything else inbetween, Put A Wet Paper Towel on It is a must-read for teachers and parents alike.

So sit up straight, four legs on your chair, fingers on lips and get ready to take a trip down memory lane. And remember – when in doubt, just put a wet paper towel on it.