Hugh Lauder

Hugh Lauder is Professor of Education and Political Economy at the University of Bath. At high school he was a failure wanting to write poetry and fiction rather than passing exams. But he realised he needed qualifications to make a living while writing. Teaching seemed a good idea because of what he imagined were long holidays. By the time he had a first degree he needed a Masters to become a teacher and by the time he received his Masters, he realised that teaching wouldn't give him the time to write. He had, by now, taught for six years in inner London schools and knew how tough teaching is. He also wanted to understand why so many inner city kids were angry, so he did a Ph.D.,receiving his Doctorate from the University of Canterbury (NZ). This was at the height of the neo-Liberal revolution in New Zealand and the desire to write poetry full time was abandoned for a struggle against the commodification of education. As Bertold Brecht put it before the second world war, 'at a time like this it is almost a crime to write poetry'. He was Professor of Education at Victoria University of Wellington (NZ) before moving to the UK. He has written co-authored and co-edited nine books and many academic papers. He also wrote two published poetry volumes and was an editor of the New Zealand literary journal, Landfall: a fervent All Black supporter.