Hidden Lessons: Growing Up on the Frontline of Teaching
£2.80
You’re in at 7am, there until 7pm and marking into the late hours. You’ve got one student who’s a full time carer, another who’s pregnant, and a third who’s just joined a gang. You haven’t got enough textbooks to go around, and one of the parents just called you an ‘extremist’. You’ve just gone through a devastating heartbreak and you have to teach Romeo and Juliet to 30 hormonal 14 year olds.
Welcome to life as a teacher.
This is a world that all of us know, but most of us have completely forgotten. It’s a world where you’re working 50 hour weeks, but you’re still just a part-time teacher because the rest of the time you’re a security guard, a nurse, a counsellor, or a friend. It’s also a world where you spend all day with some of the most interesting people you know. And even when the lesson plan has been abandoned, you’re still learning.
Mehreen started teaching at 21, and by the time she left 10 years later she’d learnt a bit about teenagers and a lot about life. This is her story.
Read more
by Bella17
Love Amazon for book deals.
by LOZ
I am ecstatic and relieved that a book like this now exists about teaching. Mehreen Baig has managed to capture the heartwarming and heart-wrenching simultaneity of teaching, and has been so candidly honest about the toll it takes on you on a human level. This is so lacking in the narratives we have about teaching in this country. How she managed to unpick and articulate those feelings and experiences is beyond me – such skill and talent. Loved it!
by fatima
This book is important. Mehreen gives an insight of teaching in a school that not many will ever get to experience. It is honest, insightful, and authentic. She writes with warmth and wit. She writes from the heart and that resonates with many. She has given a voice to children whose stories haven’t been told before with clarity and experience. She makes you sit up and listen and understand.
You laugh with her at her naivety, her mishaps, she is vulnerable and you root for her.
A clever well written important book.
by Amazon Customer
This book arrived yesterday and I read it in a single sitting. I was floored. Mesmerised. Stunned. I had no idea that teachers worked this hard. And did so much. I suppose you usually think of teachers as just turning up into the classroom and teaching. But the backstory of the author in this book had me in tears one minute, and a fit of giggles in another. I fell in love with Hot Maths Teacher (lol – do they even exist?) and was particularly charmed by the array of students. The story of the boy who went on to become successful was so moving that my mum had to ask me what was wrong. This would make a fantastic TV show. It is so funny and so emotional. And the literary references scattered throughout made readers like me work hard to discover them. Overall, the book is clever, refreshing, engaging, stylish and hot. Much like the author herself (I did a quick cheeky Google!)
by I. Idris
What a read! Reminded of Rachel Clarke’s books (doctor describing her experience of working in the NHS): this one is the education sector version – same mix of personal and political, all written with passion. Amazing book! Left me in awe of teachers and what they do for our kids. Even more, left me in awe of Mehreen – she was clearly an incredible teacher. I actually feel sorry for her school and pupils losing her as she moved onto a new career. Brilliant book – kept me up til the early hours. Well done Mehreen! [And loved the romance running through the book!]
by Sophia L M
Beautiful and heartfelt! You can’t stop reading. It’s an insightful peak into the world of teaching – how rewarding, whilst also exposing how tough a job it really is. And although that jumps out immediately, you soon realise this book is actually about so much more – it’s about womanhood, finding yourself and the importance of being true to who you are – despite society’s rigid expectations. You can’t help but fall in love with the protagonist as you go on this epic journey with her. A must read!
by Ays
This book is sooo amazing! It gives a very good insight on teachers experiences and day to day lives. The author has dedicated a lot of time and energy to this book and it’s very entertaining to read. I absolutely loved it and have told my friends about it! I hope she publishes another book soon
by Dan
“Oh I’ll do just one more page…” A phrase I’ve found myself saying more than any other book I’ve ever read. If a book can keep you up reading when you know you have an early start the next day, I think that speaks volumes. Hidden Lessons is a sensationally captivating read. It’s an honest and unsensored insight into the life of a teacher. The openness and vulnerability Mehreen speaks with has sparked a new found respect for those in charge of our children’s education. I sincerely hope this is the first book of many! Congratulations on a glorious debut.