Introducing four of the teachers

Student engagement has rarely been the stuff of youth culture. Indeed, music and film consistently play out themes of disenchantment and disengagement, with messages ringing out about generation gaps and schools not working for students, especially those from poor and marginalized backgrounds. Think of The Who’s My Generation or Pink Floyd’s The Wall. And these themes echo throughout the research literature. Only occasionally do songs talk of great teachers, successful outcomes and bright futures. In one of these, the American post-punk band Timbuk3 sings about loving classes, things going great and getting better because of a teacher who opens up a future so bright they have to ‘wear shades’ (Timbuk3 1989). The research reported in this book picks up on the themes of engaging teachers, student achievement and possibilities for brighter educational futures. It acknowledges and understands the complex challenges faced by teachers and students in the poorest of schools, but is founded on the belief that there are many teachers who accept these challenges and are able to develop engaging classroom environments that offer better outcomes and brighter futures for their students. This chapter introduces four of these teachers in detail before presenting snapshots of them all.