Chapter 5: The Art and Heart of the Skilled Teacher: A Personal Reflection

To be a teenager in London in the summer of 1966 was—if I may amend Kipling’s famous line about being born English—to have won the lottery of life. England were newly crowned soccer World champions, the music and fashions of the period were enervating and exciting, and there was a widespread feeling of confidence on our part that this was the time to be young. This feel-good factor was increased by my perceived good fortune in respect of my schooling. In the Fall of 1966 I transferred to one of South London’s most academically prestigious selective boys’ secondary schools. This was the school that my parents had long dreamed about; an academy that had educated three recipients of the Victoria Cross (the U.K.’s most revered military honour), a Secretary of State, an Oscar winner, a famous comedian, and multiple captains of industry and government.