Review: Jack Harris: Teaching Teachers How To Teach

School is in session with Jack Harris. The secondary physics teacher-by-trade now punts Teaching Teachers How to Teach courses, so buckle up cos no one’s getting out of this hour without a completely legitimate qualification.

Harris has previously written for Have I Got News for You and The Mash Report, and it shows. His jokes are well-crafted, sharp and hit the spot each time – they also suit the slightly cringe teacher vibe he’s adopted for this show. He’s a confident performer, which makes sense given he’s used to standing up in front of 30 kids every day and trying to hammer science into their heads; his crowd work reflects his experience in dealing with hecklers.

It wouldn’t be an adult education course without some PowerPoint: we’ve got graphs, we’ve got Venn diagrams, we’ve got subliminal messaging. Harris has been smart here, as the visual jokes add another layer to his competence, and he flits between the screen and the mic smoothly. Look beyond the happy-go-lucky exterior and Teaching Teachers How to Teach delves into some acute criticism of the industry: the state of how public service workers are treated, the politics of data in teaching and how it relates to government policies are astute blink-and-you’ll-miss-it observations in this quick-witted show.