Zest: A Celebration of Good Schools and Good Teachers

Zest is a lovely read.

Mark Henning uses the voices of outstanding teachers to show how the best schools in the country, public and private, continue to inspire young people.
The style is conversational and a smile is never far from the reader’s lips.

In good schools there is a sense that growing up is something to be enjoyed, not endured. There is laughter and fun; there is also a great deal of seriousness, honesty and fairness. Here, young people learn not so much what to do, but what to be.

It shows why the best schools have status while others leave their teachers intellectually exhausted and emotionally drained. The positive forces in these stories change populist perceptions of schools.

What other people have said about Zest

A book to be read ‘again and again for cues on how to inspire in a profession which increasingly alienates authorities from educators, teachers from learners, parents from schools, and whole communities from lifelong learning.’ – Professor Jonathan Jansen

For Marguerite Poland, poet and author, the need to belong, to have a community, to seek excellence and have a share in something fine that transcends the mediocre is deep within us all.

Mark Henning has been prominent in South African schooling and is a former vice-president of the World Confederation of Private Education.