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Jeffrey Boakye is a teacher. He is also a black man. This makes him something of an anomaly in the UK's white education system. He wants to explain what life is really like for Britain's black teachers and students . . .
Through a series of encounters based on things people have said to him or about him, Jeffrey describes his experience of racism, both structural and personal. Because he's a great teacher, Jeffrey presents these shocking stories as a learning opportunity, a chance to help his students, his readers and the world to better understand one of the biggest problems we face. He also explains why we must all decolonize the curriculum and diversify schools if we want to eradicate racism.
Smart and witty, eye-opening and thought-provoking, I Heard What You Said offers an unforgettable insight into racism in modern education and sets out what we can do to change things for the better.
About the author
Jeffrey Boakye
Summary
An Amazon Best Non-Fiction Book of 2022
'Essential reading' - The Guardian
'Sharp and witty with moments of startling candour' - The i
'Makes a powerful case' - Rt Hon Lady Hale
‘Revealing and beautifully written’ - David Harewood
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Before Jeffrey Boakye was a black teacher, he was a black student. Which means he has spent a lifetime navigating places of learning that are white by default. Since training to teach, he has often been the only black teacher at school. At times seen as a role model, at others a source of curiosity, Boakye’s is a journey of exploration – from the outside looking in.
In the groundbreaking I Heard What You Said, he recounts how it feels to be on the margins of the British education system. As a black, male teacher – an English teacher who has had to teach problematic texts – his very existence is a provocation to the status quo, giving him a unique perspective on the UK’s classrooms.
Through a series of eye-opening encounters based on the often challenging and sometimes outrageous things people have said to him or about him, Boakye reflects on what he has found out about the habits, presumptions, silences and distortions that black students and teachers experience, and which underpin British education.
Thought-provoking, witty and completely unafraid, I Heard What You Said is a timely exploration of how we can dismantle racism in the classroom and do better by all our students.
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'Hugely important' - Baroness Lawrence
'Deeply compelling, intellectually rigorous and essential' - Nels Abbey
'Personal and political, profound and playful' - Darren Chetty
'Written with passion, fury, knowledge and, in spite of the painful subject, wit' - Patrice Lawrence
Foreword
A powerful call to action over an education system that is default white, from a black man who has spent decades being failed by it as both a student and a teacher.
