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(Un)educated: My Life as a Teacher, and Why You Should Never Become One
Not yet published
Expected 29 Sep 26
The class weren't laughing with me, they were laughing at me and there is no lonelier place for a comedian or teacher to be in. The lesson was over and everyone knew it. I looked down and realised that my flies were undone. Welcome to teaching.
Welcome to the reality of what it's really like to be a teacher - the pure, unvarnished truth of what it means to stand in front of a group of thirty kids and try and get them to do some work. It's not the inspirational vision you see in government ads, it's breaking up fights between warring East End grandmas, six-year-olds streaking naked through exam rooms or prepubescent sociopaths annihilating lessons week after week.
In brutal, hilarious and gory detail, teacher-turned-comedian Francis Foster lifts the lids on the indignities and humiliations he experienced as a supply teacher in some of the most atrocious schools around the country. But so much more than a teacher's memoir, Classroom Confidential shines a light on the problems in the UK education system in uncompromising fashion, exposing how the most vulnerable children in society are being failed. And if you're not listening? Well, it's not only your own time you're wasting.
Welcome to the reality of what it's really like to be a teacher - the pure, unvarnished truth of what it means to stand in front of a group of thirty kids and try and get them to do some work. It's not the inspirational vision you see in government ads, it's breaking up fights between warring East End grandmas, six-year-olds streaking naked through exam rooms or prepubescent sociopaths annihilating lessons week after week.
In brutal, hilarious and gory detail, teacher-turned-comedian Francis Foster lifts the lids on the indignities and humiliations he experienced as a supply teacher in some of the most atrocious schools around the country. But so much more than a teacher's memoir, Classroom Confidential shines a light on the problems in the UK education system in uncompromising fashion, exposing how the most vulnerable children in society are being failed. And if you're not listening? Well, it's not only your own time you're wasting.
320 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication September 29, 2026
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Review of advance copy
Big fan of Francis work in Triggernometry, this book follows the same easy and authentic narrative that he brings to the podcast.
A very sad and tough reality of someone that is trying to do his best and follow a mission-driven career, but unfortunately with the challenges of public system, gets stuck into the never ending suffering that the current UK education system brings to its staff.
My main take away is that the education system is a reflection of the overall problems we see in the UK and across Europe: lack of discipline and control hidden as the 'freedom' for the previously 'oppressed'.
I would have never read a book on education if it wasn't made by Francis. I hope he will eventually get back to education in some capacity. His heart is in the right place and he understands deeply the problems and potential solutions for it.
A very sad and tough reality of someone that is trying to do his best and follow a mission-driven career, but unfortunately with the challenges of public system, gets stuck into the never ending suffering that the current UK education system brings to its staff.
My main take away is that the education system is a reflection of the overall problems we see in the UK and across Europe: lack of discipline and control hidden as the 'freedom' for the previously 'oppressed'.
I would have never read a book on education if it wasn't made by Francis. I hope he will eventually get back to education in some capacity. His heart is in the right place and he understands deeply the problems and potential solutions for it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review