Originally published in 1980, this book was specifically directed to student-teachers in Nigeria studying for the Nigeria Certificate in Education, the Advanced Teachers Certificate in some West African countries and for those pursuing the Bachelor of Education degree. It would also have been useful to students doing various diploma and postgraduate courses in education.

Apart from being a textbook of ‘principles and practice of teaching’, the book, which takes a pragmatic approach to various teaching techniques and classroom problems, could be used as a handbook by teachers and different categories of school administrators at the time. The personalised style in some of the chapters made the book suitable in a distance learning situation. Guidelines for teachers in the real school setting are also abundant.

Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.

Author, editor, and speaker Jan Ledford, COMT, began her ocular adventure as a job-trained assistant. Three certifications, 20+ books, and thousands of eye exams later, she is still very happy in an exam room with a patient, doing refractometry and other fun things.
She is currently owned by only one cat (Nadia Narci), but hopes to one day retire (although no time soon) and become a crazy cat lady. Jan lives in the mountains of western North Carolina where she enjoys singing, reading, spending time with her grandkids and other family, and watching Judge Judy and NCIS. Oh, and bleeding red ink on other people’s manuscripts.



Al Lens, COMT, began his career in ophthalmology in 1986 and has enjoyed teaching new ophthalmic medical personnel how to evaluate and care for patients in the best way possible. He is a firm believer that you should never stop learning. When students face a new scenario, Al encourages them to gain knowledge from the experience, possibly undertaking further study to fill in the blanks. Continuous study makes the job more enjoyable and better serves the patients.