The Teacher's Hand-Pook

Besides being another hilarious yarn in the series, The Teacher’s Hand-Pook voices a plea from many teachers who are worried by the sometimes unhelpful programmes, methods and theories imposed upon them from above by folks not directly in the firing line of modern education. Much of this concern is summed up by that outspoken representative of the Old Guard, Mr Mould, in his Teacher’s Prayer:

‘Preserve us this day from child psychiatrists, cranky College lecturers, Headmistresses on horseback, crackpot teachers, promotion charlies, do-gooders, education experts, potty parents, comedy writers, and all other persons who do not understand children. Forgive our own Headmaster because he is comparatively harmless.’

Too often these well-meaning schemes which appear so progressive and attractive on paper—have a habit of operating in a completely reverse direction when applied to our pupils in the classroom.

Mr Mould also begs that the public may be protected from the sensation seeking smarties of the mass-media, that they be permitted to think for themselves about their children’s education.
And who better to illustrate such disasters than Pook himself, as he plummets into one hilarious pitfall after another in this fascinating panorama of school life—whereby he discovers that children are really small adults with the saving grace of youth.