168 pages
244 x 170mm
ISBN-13: 978 1 85856 416 6
Due July 2008

In Safe Hands describes the evolution of voluntary service learning for teachers in the developing world. Hope One World (HOW), a charity of Liverpool Hope University, has provided needs-based service education for teachers in SOS schools in Africa, India and Sri Lanka for 20 years. The project teams of university staff and students work overseas for three weeks at a time with teachers and children in the SOS schools.

The book is both uplifting and practical. Written by staff and students who took part in projects, it describes the inception of the charity and how it has developed. The optimism and joy surrounding HOW suffuses the book. Each chapter starts with a pen portrait of a person who played a key role in a project, then discusses common issues such as:

• the collaborative development with Liverpool Hope staff of courses by the overseas teachers for their own staff


• the opportunity for students to live in a safe environment for a month with the children and staff in schools in Africa, India or Sri Lanka and have a structured experience of work placement


• accountability to the main funding agency


• HOW's passionate engagement with issues of social justice.

In Safe Hands offers a model for universities to facilitate service learning courses in schools in the developing world. It is for students who are considering careers in charity work, and charities wanting to work in partnership with higher education institutions to provide structured educational service learning overseas. And it will be of value for professional development of teachers in diversity training.
Jean Clarkson is the Director of MA Education at Liverpool Hope University.
Co-published by Trentham with Hope One World, winner of the Queen's Anniversary Award for service learning.