3 Review(s)

E. R. Braithwaite’s To Sir, With Love is a heartwarming tale of a school teacher and his relationship with his students. It is an autobiographical account of Braithwaite’s own experiences as a teacher in a school at East End, postwar London. Summary of the Book Ricky Braithwaite is an engineer born in British Guiana. He was demobilized from the RAF in 1945, and he is desperate to find work. A conversation with a random stranger makes him apply for a job at Greenslade School, a secondary school in London's East End. The students in his class are unruly and they have no motivation to learn. Most of them can’t read or speak very well, but this doesn’t dissuade Ricky who decides to use some unconventional methods. He makes his students an offer: in light of the fact that they are going out into the real world soon, he will treat them like adults and let them select what they will study. In return, they must treat him as their teacher with the respect all teachers deserve. Although the students initially don’t like the idea, they soon begin to love it. Ricky’s class soon becomes their very favourite, and they soon begin to take Ricky’s own advice on what lessons to follow next. They visit museums, learning things they had no interest in before. Some of the teachers at the school are uncomfortable with Ricky’s methods, but everyone agrees that it works. Soon, the students begin to love their new teacher, and they wish that their life at the school doesn’t end. About E. R. Braithwaite Edward Ricardo Braithwaite is a Guyanese novelist, writer, teacher and diplomat who is recognized for his novels and stories on the themes of social conditions and racial discrimination against black people. This story was adapted into a hit film starring Sidney Poitier in 1967.