Full Life: Letters to My Students

Hindsight is indeed 20/20. So begins this series of letters from a religious studies teacher who is also a headteacher to his students. Here he writes the letters he wishes he had sent to students in response to their questions. These letters are reflections on the issues and questions students brought up to the author during a 30 year career working with young people. Their content touches upon many experiences at school and in the life of students. The topics range from alcohol to Christianity, from political engagement and activism to boredom and how to fight it, from conspiracy theories to human sexuality. Students and their questions and difficulties are here afforded considered responses which provoke discussion, debate and further reflection. These provocative and original letters will help students reflect on their own lives and encourage them to ask profound question about the purpose and meaning of their experiences. Teachers, parents, students, pastors, and anyone who work with children will discover in these letters a unique, stimulating and often painfully honest approach to encouraging and guiding young people to confidently seek a way of living that allows them to to become their best selves. Illustrated by students, this book shines a light on all the ways that interactions in schools are about much more than behaviour and subject syllabi. The role of a teacher is also to be a guide and authority that adolescents can turn to as they navigate the messages and impulses thrust upon them by their environment, including the school environment. The letters and illustrations will provoke any reader to reflect on their deepest beliefs and hopes.