Britannia Rules – a true story about teaching and education in England today

Switzerland, 23rd March 2006

The author, Anna Cuffaro, was born and brought up in England. In her words:
“After leaving England, over twenty years ago, I took the place around with me. Now I can see that I got caught up in a time-warp in that I thought the country was still that which I had loved as a child and young person. Little did I know that Britain had undergone so much change that, when I came back, I could hardly recognise the country I had grown up in. It was a cultural shock - between the culture I had known before and as it is now. And the change was not for the better.”

The tone of Britannia Rules is light and critical. It might even be considered irreverent by some. Anna saw some of the mechanisms she came in contact with as absurd, and the outcome was that of anger and sadness. Maybe for people who have never left England, changes crept up on them and they hardly noticed what was happening.

Anna discovered a crazy world in which teacher training revolved around pure orange juice and chocolate. Anna received an application form for a job teaching English which ran to 33 pages, including three different and contradictory versions of “How to fill out your application form”. Anna saw how examination entries were manipulated in order to maximise overall grade scores.

If you want to know what life is really like living, working and educating children, young people and adults in England today, Britannia Rules tells a true story with humour.

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About the author
Anna Cuffaro works in Switzerland as a teacher and translator.

Further information www.britanniarules.co.uk

Contact the author via website or anna@britanniarules.co.uk

Order Britannia Rules through any bookshop, ISBN 1-4116-7077-9