The Secret Diary of a School Teacher
Over the course of two weeks in April 2004, the British satirical magazine Private Eye published a journal, Teacher's Diary, written by an anonymous maths teacher at what he called (quoting Tony Blair's spokesman, Alastair Campbell) "a bog standard comprehensive".
The diary described an undercurrent of pupil misbehaviour and incompetence in the school, including girls who were sexually active before they could do simple sums, students who asserted that they had rights if any attempt were made to punish them, and a pervasive attitude of indifference.
The diary, in a special pull-out section of the magazine, drew widespread messages of support and confirmation of the problem, which were printed in the following issue; the messages came not only from teachers, but from pupils too.
In the Shropshire Star, it was revealed that the teacher was from Telford, although he wanted to remain anonymous to protect the children at the school.[1] Within weeks, the teacher's identity, Stuart Williams, was discovered by the UK press, with stories in the Sunday People and the Daily Mail, and the school was identified as Lord Silkin School. He was subsequently interviewed by the Sunday Telegraph [2] and Radio Shropshire.[3]
References
- ^ "ShropshireStar.com - News - Article". 2004-06-07. Retrieved 2018-08-12.
- ^ It's parents who make children unteachable, Max Davidson, Sunday Telegraph review section page 2, 2 May 2004
- ^ "BBC - Shropshire - Features - Teacher diary". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-12.