Teachers Who Change Lives concerns outstanding teachers, and the qualities that enable them to help change students lives for the better. It focuses on learning and teaching as a relationship. The book is based on interviews with prominent Australians talking about the teachers who helped shape them, and on interviews with teachers well-known for their excellence.

Andrew Metcalfe and Ann Game argue that outstanding teachers do not direct students, but instead draw out their potential, encouraging them to become more truly themselves. This occurs when teachers have respect for the unique wholeness of each student. The book is concerned with how teachers meet the challenge of maintaining their appreciation of students' wholeness, even in crowded classrooms and stressful conditions.

The prominent achievers interviewed in this book include: Stephanie Alexander, Dawn Casey, Betty Churcher, Greg Chappell, Raimond Gaita, Helen Garner, Shane Gould, Nick Jose and Michael Kirby.