Government spends the biggest slice of its budget on education, yet the systemic challenge of delivering quality education persists. While gains have been made, two generations after democracy many young adults with a matric certificate have little meaningful opportunity after school. Where Light Shines Through is a quest to find classrooms where fissures of light shine through the darkness of the narrative of public education. It reveals ‘can-do’ teachers who are excelling despite the odds. While our media continues to be saturated with stories of state capture and corruption, this book turns our gaze away from those that are in power towards those that are in service. Phitidis considers what we can learn from these teachers to influence how we attract, select, train, deploy and retain teachers to build the quality of the schooling sector and the public sector more broadly.