School Blues

Reading this book slowly. Wonderful. Thought provoking and inspiring.

bought for a present so don't know whether it was liked

When you see that Quentin Blake has written a foreword, you know that what follows must be pretty good stuff and this splendid book is no disappointment. M Pennac - himself labelled a dunce at school, lays bare the many ways in which schools (and sometimes, sadly, parents) damage and cripple many of their youngsters because they simply don't recognise the multifarious ways in which learning may take place. His stories and reflections, and his fragmented narrative style, are both thought-provoking and inspiring.If you think school is about filling kids like jam-jars with "education", then read this. And, if you're Michael Gove, read it twice (in the hope of understanding it).

The economist gave praise for this book in a review in Sept 2011; I am not sure why. I really this meandering train of thought that does little to reinforce any central theme. Maybe I am getting lost in the translation. Regardless, I do not recommend.