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Two women from different parts of the world share the stories of their lives

Two women from different parts of the world, united by a common passion, experience or expertise, share the stories of their lives.

The Conversation: Teachers: Claire Warlow and Jacque Kahura

Teachers Claire Warlow (Left) and Jacque Kahura (Right)

04/05/2015

Teachers: Claire Warlow and Jacque Kahura

BBC World Service - The Conversation, Teachers: Claire Warlow and Jacque Kahura

Two primary school teachers who bring energy and entertainment to the classroom

How do you inspire 55 children who may have come to school hungry and unhappy? A Kenyan teacher shares her experience with a teacher from Wales

Claire Warlow is an award-winning primary school teacher in Swansea in Wales. Her pupils are aged between three and seven years old and all have special educational needs, such as autism, speech and language difficulties, and ADHD. Claire says she has a reputation among her pupils for being 'crazy' because of the fun and energy she injects into her teaching style. Her work is about recognising and celebrating 'tiny steps of achievement' and supporting parents as well as children. Intense working days mean it is difficult for Claire to switch off in her own time and she says in that sense teaching is "a lifestyle, not a job". The reward of a career in teaching for Claire is the knowledge that she has encouraged a child to do something that they thought they couldn't do themselves. She says: "I'd like a child to hold that thought of me...that I've inspired them."

When Jacque Kahura stands before her class of 55 primary schoolchildren in Kilifi in rural Kenya she is well aware that many are dealing with abuse and violence at home, and come to school hungry. The drop-out rate is high and so Jacque has to maximise the time she has with the children so they learn as much as possible, even interacting with them at weekends. She has done away with the traditional classroom layout and her innovations have earned her a top 10 final place in the Global Teacher Prize 2015. She talks about the low pay for teachers in her country and how her colleagues pay for basic resources like textbooks, and even the medical care of children in their schools. Jacque's love of learning started young; the daughter of teachers, she knew what she wanted to do for a living by the age of nine. But some of the girls she teaches are being sexually exploited, forced into prostitution and pregnant at 11 years old. Jacque has rescued 40 girls from such a fate and has two of them living with her at home.

(Photo: Claire Warlow (left); Jacque Kahura (right). Credits: South Wales Evening Post; The Varkey Foundation)

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