Lighting the Literacy Fire: Creative Ideas for Teachers and Parents

Sean David Burke is Australian, 44 years old, and a descendant of Italian, Croatian, Irish and Scottish peoples. He lives in Fremantle, in Western Australia, and is also an Italian Citizen. Sean and Andrea Albuquerque have three children; Thomas, 18, Genevieve, 16, and Bonnie, 10. Sean attended a Catholic high school in Perth, completed Degrees in Politics and Law and was a lawyer for a few years. He then followed his interest in education and became a Steiner/Waldorf primary class teacher, helping to pioneer two such schools in Perth. Sean was recently employed in a state intensive English centre, teaching young adult migrants, and has also engaged in relief teaching in a wide range of schools while writing this book. The family spent 2009 in Italy, working, learning the language and meeting new and old friends. Sean now works as an online tutor and is available to give seminars on various aspects of education. Sean’s other interests, after his family, are, inter alia, writing, music, politics, ethics, health and shorewalking. He hosts an alternative education website, www.EarthsideEducation.com. He also continually investigates new ways of trying to train their dog, Jet, the second-fastest dog in the world.