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Teacher

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Teacher

By: Gabbie Stroud
Narrated by: Jo Van Es
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About this listen

Watching children learn is a beautiful and extraordinary experience....

It is a kind of magic, a kind of loving, a kind of art. It is teaching. Just teaching. Just what I do. What I did. Past tense.

In 2014, Gabrielle Stroud was a very dedicated teacher with over a decade of experience. Months later, she resigned in frustration and despair when she realised that the Naplan-test education model was stopping her from doing the very thing she was best at: teaching individual children according to their needs and talents.

Her groundbreaking essay 'Teaching Australia' in the February 2016 Griffith Review outlined her experiences and provoked a huge response from former and current teachers around the world. That essay lifted the lid on a scandal that is yet to properly break - that our education system is unfair to our children and destroying their teachers.

In a powerful memoir inspired by her original groundbreaking essay, Gabrielle tells the full story: how she came to teaching, what makes a great teacher, what our kids need from their teachers, and what it was that finally broke her. A brilliant and heartbreaking memoir that cuts to the heart of a vital matter of national importance.

©2018 Gabbie Stroud (P)2018 W. F. Howes Ltd Inspiring
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I'm not one to have an overly emotional response to books but this one got me right in the feels. Gab gets us because she IS us. "Teacher" connects personally to many aspects of my own career and more than once as I listened to it in the car on the way to school I have shouted YES. The narration is excellent as is the writing - it really does feel like Gabbie Stroud herself is speaking to the reader personally.

Must read for all teachers

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Loved the pen pictures of the different children and some of them seemed very familiar! Breaks my heart to see another wonderful, instinctive teacher worn down by testing, paper work and change for the sake of change. Politicians and bureucrats push for change to boost their own careers but in the process they cause untold harm to the children and teachers they are meant to serve.

Brings Back Memories of Teaching Days

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Having worked with teachers, I can say this story is on the money, each year more and more work is piled upon the teacher and less and less time is allowed for the kind of connections the kids need. It’s not the career most people think it is, there’s no time for niceties anymore, it is all that she wrote about.

It’s all true

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Brilliant insight. Funny, heartbreaking, eye opening and engaging.
Our education system is broken, it’s breaking our teachers and students and is far too political - Australia has lost sight of what education should be.

Wow. Loved it.

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Confrontingly accurately depiction of what it means to live as a teacher. Amidst all the joy and delight of teaching little minds is the ever insidious creep of a life and passion sucking bureaucracy that seems destined, if not determined, to break our education system one data point at a time.

Terrifyingly easy to relate to

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learned so much listening to this audiobook. it touches on important aspects of teaching and raises awareness on others.

loved it

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A very engaging book, it gave me an appreciation and unique insight into what primary teachers do all day,and the stresses and pressures they experience.
This book was all about Gabbie Stroud's experience, from her days as an idealistic enthusiastic young teacher in the East End,through various Australian primary schools to an experienced and accomplished, but burnt out teacher.She is overwhelmed by ridiculous levels of reporting ,unnecessary testing and micromanagement.The joy of teaching becomes lost in the avalanche of paperwork and bureaucracy,
Although it's clear that she spoke up in meetings and was unsupported,her experience is obviously not unique .
I couldn't help wondering where the union was and whether she was in it.
My advice to disillusioned teachers and perhaps parents who might read this book- before they burn out is, that they should take to heart a quote from Joe Hill and - "Go on to organise !"

Proceed into classroom with caution!

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Nothing has resonated with me as much as this book. Full of hopes and desires and then burdened with truths and realism.

Teacher truths

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was insightful, moving and beautifully written and narrated. I feel like I'll have a much deeper understanding of my daughter's teacher's workload when she starts kindy this year.

a must read for any parent for a child at school

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Loved every minute of this audiobook. The Warren chapter had actually brought me to tears, it was so relevant it was as if I had written it myself!
This was so beautifully written (and spoken) I cannot wait to listen to this again.

Such a beautifully written piece

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