Passie voor de Klas is the product of the city of Amsterdam’s desire to see some genuinely favourable publicity for teachers, a much-maligned section of the population. In recent years the profession has suffered increasing criticism, with education in general regarded as below par as well as being under severe pressure in other ways.
This ‘book’ – more a bundle of paper held together with staples – is a modest attempt at arousing sympathy for the teaching profession. There are still teachers who make a real difference, and ten of these ‘heroes’ are dragged into the limelight by one of their pupils. Teacher and pupil stand together before the camera, though to see the whole picture the reader must first turn the inserted half-page, an action which focuses attention on teacher and pupil as individuals, each with their own story to tell, and on the relationship between the two.
The beige cover, itself an exercise in understatement, seems to underline the notion that teachers efface themselves in the general interest and regard their efforts as a given.