A job that changed me: I was teaching in a juvenile detention centre when a repeat offender’s poetry moved me to tears

“On my first day, I was terrified. But I quickly came to realise these young people weren’t irredeemably bad “Those who can’t, teach,” is the most unjust professional putdown. Unfortunately, it was true in my case. I’d lived a childhood dream for 25 years, as a sports reporter and producer in Australia, London and New York. When I moved back to Melbourne from the United States with my family in 2017, I started a media production company with an old friend. Had it been successful, I never would have entered a classroom again. But our company went belly up after 18 months. I was 51. With two young kids and a hefty mortgage, my wife suggested it might be time to revisit the idea of teaching. Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Ralph Jackman’s memoir Detention: A rookie teacher, the toughest prison school in Australia is available now through Allen & Unwin (AU$34.99) Continue reading...

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