ABSTRACT
This book is about the emotional business of teaching and learning. It shows how emotional needs may distort the interactions of both teachers and learners, and it discusses the kinds of support that teachers say they need to enable them to be the teachers they want to be. It proposes a return to a humanistic view of teaching which sees teachers as a crucial influence on young people’s lives, and recommends that teachers are supported in establishing a classroom ethos in which they can respond with insight and understanding to pupils’ needs. It is based on the premise, supported by my research into secondary school teaching, that teachers want not only to promote learning in their own subject but to help and guide pupils in the business of growing up.
