BOOK REVIEW-TO SIR WITH LOVE

REVIEW OF- TO SIR,WITH LOVE

Those of you who are in your teens - how many of you desist to be told what to do and how to do, what to study and when to study?

Teenagers demand to be treated as adults but are seldom dealt that way. This forces them to rebel, often voicing their opinions vehemently. At home or at school, they face the same situation. But what if there comes a teacher who rather than bombarding them with sermons and bookish knowledge, enlightens them not only about their syllabus but also life, and treats them with respect, with equality.

To Sir, With Love is one such story. Written by E. R. Braithwaite, the autobiographical novel is set in the East End of London, and portrays the society and culture prevalent in the UK, post-World War II.

The book takes us through the life of the author who despite having excellent qualifications is denied job suited for his education because of his black colour (racial discrimination existed deeply in society in those times). He thus takes the teaching job at Greens lade School, a secondary school in East End in London, as that's the best job he could get at that time. But the school's culture presents another shock to the prim teacher. Having worked in Royal Air Force, Braithwaite finds it hard to be surrounded by undisciplined, unmotivated and unclean students. He tries to teach them but becomes a victim of their pranks, unruly attitude and rude remarks. But the fighter in him refuses to hang up his boots. He decides to change his teaching style. So instead of teaching them book lessons, he starts giving them life lessons. The students, he tells them, would be treated as adults by him and in return they need to bestow the same kind of respect towards each other and their teachers. He gradually begins preparing them for life post-school. And that's

when things begin to shape up for the author, and his students start responding positively to his efforts.

The ups and downs in his life, his interactions with his class and their transformation from rowdy teenagers to young responsible adults is what keeps a reader glued to the book till the end. In between, Braithwaite does talk about the racial discrimination meted out to him due to his colour.

Published first in 1959, the beauty of ‘To Sir, With Love’ lies in the portrayal of relationship between a teacher and his students. It is this journey of Braithwaite that makes this book timeless; and lives with a reader long after the story ends. To Sir, With Love is a 1959 autobiographical novel by E. R. Braithwaite set in the East End of London. The novel is based on true events concerned with Braithwaite taking up a teaching post in a school there.

Most of the pupils in his class are unmotivated to learn, and are only semi-literate and semi-articulate. He persists despite their unresponsiveness to his approach. Students attempt to discourage and demoralise him by disruptive noises, constant use of the adjective "bleeding" in the classroom and, finally, the burning of a used sanitary towel in the fireplace. This last causes Braithwaite to lose his temper and reprimand all the girls.

Braithwaite decides to try a new approach, and sets some ground rules. The students will be leaving school soon and will enter adult society, so he will treat them as adults and allow them to decide what topics they wish to study. In return, he demands their respect as their teacher. This novel approach is initially rejected, but within a few weeks the class is largely won over. He suggests out-of-school activities including visits to museums, which the students have never experienced before. A young teacher, Gillian Blanchard, volunteers to assist him on these trips. Some of the girls start to speculate

whether a personal relationship is budding between Braithwaite and Gillian. The trip is a success and more are approved by the initially sceptical headmaster.

The teachers and the Student Council openly discuss all matters affecting the school including curricula. The general feeling is that Braithwaite's approach is working, although some teachers advocate a tougher approach.

The mother of one of the girls speaks privately to Braithwaite about the girl's troubling attraction to nightlife, feeling that he has more influence with her impressionable daughter.

Braithwaite and Gillian fall deeply in love and discuss marriage. Her parents are openly disapproving of a mixedrace marriage, but realise that the couple are serious and intelligent and must be trusted to make the right decision.

All that To Sir, With Love really achieves is a sordid demonstration of the author's vanity. Nor is his description of specifically racial problems any more discerning. Mr. Braithwaite is shocked when refused social status equal to a Briton with academic qualifications and level of conduct similar to his own; and he constantly stresses the ease with which he could assimilate into British society if only his colour were disregarded [...] Prejudice against him is unfair, he claims, because of his social accomplishment, not because of his humanity; and he implies thereby that prejudice against black people who lack similar cultural habits may be justified.

The book’s title derives from the inscription on the end-of-school gift that the students presented to Braithwaite at their graduation dance. Reconstructed conversations constitute at least one-third of the text; the balance of the book consists of narrative and interior monologue. The first chapter opens with Braithwaite on his way to interview for a teaching position at Greenslade Secondary School. He took the post believing it to be merely a job, not a calling or a labour of love. He was oriented to the new job by an experienced teacher, who discussed his specific duties, and by the headmaster of the school, who discussed its philosophy and students.

Chapters 4 and 5 flash back to the eighteen months of unsuccessful searching for an engineering position that preceded Braithwaite’s arrival at Greenslade. During that time, he had interviewed for numerous positions, always being told, “I am sorry; we cannot use you,” sometimes with the additional explanation that the company could not employ a black man to supervise white people who had been with the company for a number of years. In his six years of military service, his skin colour had never been an issue; now it made him feel that, although he was British, he was not a Briton. Whenever he applied for technician’s jobs and lower positions than the engineering or science work for which he was qualified, he was told that he was too well dressed, well spoken, or well educated for the job.

A chance encounter with a stranger, an older gentleman on a park bench, saved Braithwaite from complete dejection and pointed him toward a teaching career. The older man advised him to seek a teaching position; skin colour would not matter, the stranger believed and post-war London had a teacher shortage. That Braithwaite had a lengthy conversation with the older stranger and took his advice without ever learning the man’s name is one of the wealth of interesting details of the book that the reader remembers.

Alex Florian, the school’s headmaster, had a progressive, student-centered philosophy of nonpunitive, warm, and informal education. The approach baffled, puzzled, and nearly defeated Braithwaite who, as a new teacher, had not yet determined his own philosophy of education.

His class consisted of forty-six teenagers who, at first, were hostile, unruly, and very good at teacher baiting. They were as resistant to academic learning as they were to learning courtesy. Although he felt despondent and ineffectual, believing that things were not working well and that he was not teaching the students enough, Braithwaite kept trying. He gradually won the students’ respect by offering respect—along with consistent discipline, effective instruction, and genuine caring. By the end of the school year, Braithwaite was a beloved, warmly accepted, and clearly very effective teacher who was visible in the community and well-known to the students’ parents.

CONCLUTION

To Sir, with Love has aged gracefully and deserves its continuing readership among young adults. Although it was written for a general adult audience, young readers will find the book’s treatment of many topics to be engaging and instructive: human relations, prejudice and discrimination, the problems of growing up and learning how to find useful work and make a living, educational institutions, economic inequities, and teacher-student relations. Although some questions might be raised about Braithwaite’s accuracy in reporting past events and reconstructing conversations, his writing skill produces a unified, accessible work that clearly depicts post-war London and some quite likable teachers and students.

Perhaps more important, the book presents an engaging self-portrait of a strong teacher, an educator who is of interest to young adults because they can identify with his problems and successes, his early insecurities and growing confidence in his teaching, and his initial rebuffs and later total acceptance by the community. Braithwaite’s intelligence, sensitivity, interpersonal skills, high expectations of his students, and ability to motivate them are apparent throughout the book.

The racial prejudice that Braithwaite encountered in post-World War II England played a major role in his decision to enter teaching. Discrimination against him did not end, however, when he accepted the teaching position. In the early months at Greenslade, for example, he was refused a room that he wanted to rent when the woman who had advertised the room saw his skin colour. The white, working-class neighbourhood had abundant biases, which are dealt with openly and honestly in the book.

Consequently, it is ironic that, in the light of the strong theme of prejudice, Braithwaite is guilty of stereotyping his young female characters, just as prospective employers stereotyped him when they subjected him to numerous rebuffs under the assumption that a black man could not supervise white English subordinates. Young adult readers may also note that while Braithwaite allows other characters to talk about him in terms of glowing praise,

He does not adequately characterize the other faculty members at Greenslade Secondary School but rather presents stock, one-dimensional “types” of teachers. His tendency to sing his own praises and his stereotypical depictions of other people raise some questions concerning the extent to which he has fictionalized the events of the book. The basic ideas, however—the importance of interpersonal relations in teaching and learning, the value of self-respect and integrity, and the need for interracial harmony in the world—are timeless and handled skilfully in the book.

Minor questions of accuracy and questionable decisions regarding tone, therefore, do not diminish either the drama of the work or its value for young adult readers. The book is warm, readable, and teachable. Its themes are universal and appropriate for young people.