Through a Different Lens
In the first of two extracts from his new book, the inimitable Ger Graus looks back at life in Wythenshawe and a life-changing trip to Bologna.
Introducing Ger
Not everyone has an autobiographical work about education reviewed by the likes of Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills and Education at the OECD, James Neill, International Director at GL Education or Carla Rinaldi, President, Fondazione Reggio Children, Reggio Emilia, Italy.
But not everyone is Ger Graus, the extraordinary teacher from the Netherlands who came to the UK in 1983 as a young man and ended up staying, rising through the ranks en route to an international career as a writer, commentator, board member, academic and thinker. Those people who have heard him speak tend not to forget what he has to say, which is invariably connected to a vivid personal experience as a teacher and backed by convincing evidence. His words always reflect his profound belief in the infinite potential of all children, when and if they are made aware of the possibilities that lie before them.
In the first of two extracts of his new book Through a Different Lens Ger looks back at an early initiative which others frankly regarded as bonkers, but which met with huge success for all the right reasons. Ger picks up the story:
Driving home one day
We all have certain memories that are as clear as a bell and seem as if they happened only yesterday. I vividly recall in November 2002 my journey on the way back from meeting Adriano Monti, the then Italian consul to Manchester, to Tatton Park in Knutsford when I got stuck in traffic at the lights at Bucklow Hill. As I sat there, pondering my meeting with the consul about language learning and role-play, a question came into my mind: How many of Shakespeare’s plays are set in Italy? In my eagerness to find an answer, I phoned my friend Julian Chenery, the founder of Shakespeare 4 Kidz.