The late Ted Wragg, Professor of education at Exeter University, talks to Estelle Morris, former secretary of state for education and skills, about her life as a teacher and as a politician.
In this illuminating discussion she says, "I did know how the classroom worked. And I hope that I had an ability to look at a policy that might be in development and actually say 'come on it doesn't quite work like that'. So, bringing the mechanisms of policy and vision together with practicalities was something only I could do because only I'd had that experience."
She reveals what she thinks were her inadequacies as a teacher and how this led her to believe in literacy and numeracy hours. And admits that failing her A-levels had a profound effect: "It stayed with me throughout my life and if I lacked confidence at all, it's partly down to [that]."
And resigning as secretary of state? "I was right to leave but I was sad to go."
