SUMMARY- To Sir, With Love
Writer:- E.R. Braithwaite: (1912-2016)
Eustace Edward Ricardo Braithwaite, known as E.R. Braithwaite, was a Guyanese-American writer, teacher and diplomat. He was best known for his stories of social conditions and racial discrimination against black people. He was the author of one of the famous autobiographical novels, ‘To Sir, with Love’. He wrote a number of books exposing racial discrimination in post-war Britain, all of which were inspired by his personal experiences.Buy bestselling books online
About Novel: ‘To Sir, with Love’
It is an autobiographical novel. The narrator is an engineer, but to earn money, he accepts the job of a teacher in ‘East End school’ at London. The school is full of troublemaker students who were rejected from other schools for their behaviour. At the beginning, the narrator is ridiculed and humiliated by the students, but later his calm behaviour and desire to see them succeed gradually earn him their respect.
Synopsis of the Novel extract:
In this extract, Braithwaite recounts the half-yearly report of the Students’ Council, in which the students of the school report to the faculty and other students on what they have been studying thus far. Braithwaite’s class representatives speak knowledgeably about their coursework and place a considerable amount of emphasis on how much they have learnt about different people, cultures, customs, and the importance of international and interracial cooperation. The students presented their humanitarian and broad outlook on the background of racism and discrimination of that time. They also showed respect to other students and the teachers. The extract also deals with the clash between the student Denham and the teacher Mrs. Dale-Evans about the need of P.T. in the curriculum of school. Here Mrs. Dale-Evans outwitted Denham by telling the importance of P.T. Denham accepted his defeat.
The half-yearly report of the Students’ Council was arranged on November 15th. It was one of the important days in the calendar of Greenslade School. It was entirely children’s day. It was arranged, presented and controlled by them.
Introduction of Characters:-
Ricky Braithwaite- Narrator and Teacher
Mr. Florian- Head Master
Mrs. Dale-Evans- Teacher
Miss. Phillips- Teacher
Mr. Watson- Teacher
Miss. Gillian Blanchard- Teacher
Denham- Student
Miss. Dare- Student.
Miss Joseph- Student.
Patrick Fernman- Student.
Jackson- Student.
Miss Pegg- Student.
Dodd- Student.
Pamela Dare- Student
Theme of the Novel:
Student-teacher relationship, prejudice and racism are the major themes of the novel.
Essence of the reports:-
Throughout all the reports, the emphasis was on what the students understood rather than on what they were expected to learn.
8) Presentation of Narrator’s class:-
Potter- Arithmetic
Sapiano- Nature Study
Miss Pegg & Jackson- Geography
Miss Dare & Fernman- Physiology
Miss Dodd- History
Denham- P.T. & games
Miss Joseph- Domestic Science
summary
Braithwaite takes a job at Greenslade Secondary School, located in a very poor neighborhood in England, where students are sent after being expelled for behavioral problems from other schools. Braithwaite has a hard time as he begins teaching at Greenslade. As the early chapters describe, Braithwaite struggles early on to establish a connection with his students, who fall far below the level of education expected for their age (15 years old), exhibit very little interest in learning, and show Braithwaite very little respect. The difficulties are only compounded by the fact that Braithwaite views his class as a group of privileged, ungrateful, whites. In short, both students and teacher are guilty of viewing the other according to preformed stereotypes.
These barriers gradually start to come down when Braithwaite introduces some changes into his classroom policies and in the way he runs his classes. Braithwaite decides to treat his students as 'adults' as compared to 'kids' which was the norm. This allowed him to be 'unfair' and realistic according to students and the prevalent practices of those days. By instructing the students to address him as “Sir,” and each other by their last names, Braithwaite cultivates an atmosphere of respect in the classroom. His idea is that by treating the students more like adults, they will act more like adults. He consolidates his position by making Pamela Dare an 'adult' and 'ladylike' when she barged into the classroom. Braithwaite also makes efforts to get students more engaged in what they are learning, giving students more opportunities to speak up in class, and even devoting a certain amount of classroom time to discussion of whatever topic students choose. He also takes them on field trips to museums, something many of them had never experienced before. Not only do these changes in the classroom foster greater enthusiasm for learning in the students, but they also help both students and teacher to view each other differently.
Some details about Half yearly report
2) Introductory speech:-
Mr. Florian, the headmaster of the school, addressed the school. He spoke at length, reiterating the aims and policy of the school and of the important contribution each child could make to the furtherance of those aims. He gave praise wherever it was indicated, but insisted that there was yet a great deal to be done, by themselves, towards a general improvement in conduct, cleanliness and the pursuit of knowledge.Best online courses
3) Students’ representatives:-
Miss Joseph and Denham, the two most senior students, sat on the stage. They were the representative of the students and continued the session.
4) Second Speech:
Miss Joseph stood up, and gave a short explanation of the Council’s purpose and its activities. Each class would report, through its representatives, on the studies pursued during the half year which began after Easter, a representative having been chosen for each subject. When all the classes had completed their reports a panel of teachers would be invited to occupy the stage and answer questions from the body of the hall on matters arising out of the various reports.
5) Procedure of Selection of teachers:-
The selection of the panel, as with everything else, was entirely at the discretion of the children and no members of the staff knew either how many or which teachers would be invited to sit.
6) Actual presentation of reports:
The reports began with the lowest or youngest class first. These were mainly twelve-year-olds who had joined the school the previous summer. Most of them were shy and rather frightened at standing up before the entire school, but nevertheless they managed it creditably; they had been newly introduced to the difficulties of seeking information for themselves, so their report was understandably rather short.
Essence of the reports:-
Throughout all the reports, the emphasis was on what the students understood rather than on what they were expected to learn.
8) Presentation of Narrator’s class:-
Potter- Arithmetic
Sapiano- Nature Study
Miss Pegg & Jackson- Geography
Miss Dare & Fernman- Physiology
Miss Dodd- History
Denham- P.T. & games
Miss Joseph- Domestic Science
