ROUTES INTO WORK
e a c h e r s i n f l u e n c e s t u d e nt
achievement more than any
other asp ect of scho oling,
research shows — and if anyone
demonstrates the power of this, it’s
Andria Zafirakou.
Last year, the arts and textiles teacher at
Alperton Community School in north west
London won the Varkey Foundation Global
Teacher Prize, a US award presented annually
to an exceptional teacher who has made an
outstanding contribution to the profession.
Among the 30,000 applicants from 175
countries, she was recognised for her
dedication to making her students feel
welcome and valued – for example, learning
the basics of 35 languages so she could greet
them every day in their first language.
She has donated every penny of her $1m
prize money to her arts charity, Artists in
Residence, which helps schools to improve
their art curriculum by connecting them with
artists to co-design a residency project.
Zafirakou continues to teach today, making
real the vision she nurtured from childhood.
T
Challenge and opportunity
“I went into teaching thinking ‘I can’t wait to
have my art room and inspire my students; to
be that amazing person in a child’s life, the
role model’,” she explains in the video.
“I remember turning up for my interview
at my school; windows were broken; the
displays in the room were old and tattered.
Students were rowdy and there wasn’t a
community. I wanted to leave as quickly as
possible. Until two little girls in the front said
to me in very broken English: ‘Miss, can you
stay? Will you be our teacher?’. Thirteen years
later I’m still in that school. It’s exactly where
I need to be.”
During her time at Alperton Community
School in Brent, one of the most ethnically
diverse areas in the country, she has grafted
to earn the trust of her pupils and their families
in order to understand more clearly the
complexities of their lives. Doing this
encouraged her, as a member of the school’s
leadership team, to redesign the curriculum
to meet pupils’ diverse needs, working
carefully with other teachers.
For those with chaotic home lives, she
made provision within the school day and at
weekends for booster lessons and provided
access to computers and a quiet place for
pupils to do their homework, plus time to
participate in extracurricular activities.
Alternative timetables allowed for girls-only
sports that would not offend some of the more
conservative communities. She led the girls’
cricket team to win a prestigious cup.
Your job
as a teacher
is to make
sure every
child in front
of you has
every
opportunity
to succeed
“My school is in an area of high deprivation,”
she says. “Children in our community are
growing up way too fast . They have
extraordinarily tough lives and pressures we
can’t even imagine. We just have to
make sure that we support them as much
as we can.”
The value of the arts
Arts education is a powerful tool for bringing
out young people’s unique personal strengths
and building both individuality and belonging,
she believes. They help young people to think
creatively, communicate and build resilience
— vital skills for life and work.
“Imagine you are a child who has just
migrated from another country. You are going
to a school where you are intimidated and
scared. The only areas where you can show
‘who I am’ are the creative subjects and PE.
“These subjects help us achieve and feel
that sense of purpose: ‘Yes, I am as good as
everyone else, or even better’. That’s
life-transforming.”
Dedicated to ensuring the arts are not
“squeezed out of curriculums” — at the very
time that we need human skills the most — she
started her Artists in Residence charity to
bring artists into schools.
“I want children to know that they can
aspire to become an artist,” she says. “If we
do not protect these subjects we are not
helping our children succeed in the future.”
At her own school, for example, the charity
has recently enabled students to experience
a series of Shakespeare workshops with
director Michael Attenborough CBE.
For Zafirakou, teaching is an holistic role
and a rewarding vocation.
“Teaching does not end when you close a
door after a lesson,” she argues. “Your job as
a teacher is to make sure every child in front
of you has every opportunity to succeed.
Break their ceilings. It doesn’t matter if they
have special educational needs or whatever;
there is a way that every child can achieve a
sense of purpose.
“When you’re doing something that brings
you joy then it’s not a job,” she adds. “You love
it, you thrive on it. That, for me, is what keeps
me going. That’s what it takes to be a
good teacher.”
ABOUT BECOMINGX
BecomingX launches later this year.
For a taster of their content, watch the
promotional film of CEO and founder
Paul Gurney’s interview with
Andria Zafirakou at bit.ly/AndriaZ
FUTURE TALENTED // 27