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I learned to change my accent; in England, your accent identifies you very strongly with a class, and I did not want to be held back.

Education in British schools isn't good enough. It's not remotely imaginative enough. It lets down too many children, excluding them from society, and, as I've often said, people who are excluded from society tend to express themselves in ways not acceptable to society.

It's easier to change what you do than people think it is. If you don't change, your field changes around you.

People believe in the power of education to change lives.

To make real change, you have to be well anchored - not only in the belief that it can be done, but also in some pretty real ways about who you are and what you can do.

When you're young, it's all about the society of school and being cool, but they don't understand that somebody can be different and live a different lifestyle and still be a regular person. I was the same way when I was a kid.

Change is a great and horrible thing, and people love it or hate it at the same time. Without change, however, you just don't move.

I always wished I could move around and switch schools. It was hard to have these radical transformations. You'd think, 'I will be a totally different person tomorrow,' but it never worked.

I am different because I have better schooling, better understanding of the line, gesture, how feet working, positions. They taught me modern things... and I wanted to give what I had: my schooling.

It's been ingrained in me, from my parents and others, this idea of making a difference in the world.