The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life - Softcover

Palmer, Parker J

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470580704 ISBN 13: 9780470580707

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2007

Synopsis

"This book is for teachers who have good days and bad — and whose bad days bring the suffering that comes only from something one loves. It is for teachers who refuse to harden their hearts, because they love learners, learning, and the teaching life." — Parker J. Palmer [from the Introduction]

For many years, Parker Palmer has worked on behalf of teachers and others who choose their vocations for reasons of the heart but may lose heart because of the troubled, sometimes toxic systems in which they work. Hundreds of thousands of readers have benefited from his approach in THE COURAGE TO TEACH, which takes teachers on an inner journey toward reconnecting with themselves, their students, their colleagues, and their vocations, and reclaiming their passion for one of the most challenging and important of human endeavors.

This book builds on a simple premise: good teaching cannot be reduced to technique but is rooted in the identity and integrity of the teacher. Good teaching takes myriad forms but good teachers share one trait: they are authentically present in the classroom, in community with their students and their subject. They possess "a capacity for connectedness" and are able to weave a complex web of connections between themselves, their subjects, and their students, helping their students weave a world for themselves. The connections made by good teachers are held not in their methods but in their hearts — the place where intellect, emotion, spirit, and will converge in the human self — supported by the community that emerges among us when we choose to live authentic lives.

BONUS: Includes an audio CD featuring a 45-minute conversation between Parker Palmer and his colleagues, Marcy Jackson and Estrus Tucker from the Center for Courage & Renewal. They reflect on what they have learned from working with thousands of teachers in their "Courage to Teach" program (www.CourageRenewal.org)and with others who yearn for greater integrity in their professional lives.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

About this title

Review

"This is the best education book I′ve read in a long time. Palmer provides a powerful argument for the need to move from our over–reliance on technique toward a learning environment that both honors and truly develops the deepest human capacities in children and teachers. It′s about time we remember that it′s the person within the teacher that matters most in education, and Palmer makes the case eloquently." (Teacher Magazine)

"If teaching is just a chore, and you are content to just ′do chores,′ this book is not for you. You will be challenged to go beyond the minimum and pursue excellence. But rather than approaching teaching as something we just tolerate, Parker Palmer holds out the promise of it being something we can celebrate." (Academy of Management Review)

"Reading this book will enrich the life of any teacher who loves teaching." (Pro Rege)

"Parker Palmer is a teacher′s teacher, and it is when he writes as a teacher that this book is a remarkably inspiring, almost religious companion for anyone who has taught or might be thinking of about teaching as a vocational journey for life.... This book can change your life if you are a teacher." (Religious Education)

"Through a series of vignettes, Palmer encourages reflection, and strives to bolster readers′ initiative and confidence. The Courage to Teach is an awakening, and a gentle, directive touch that reaches out to teachers of all levels and ages." (Childhood Education)

"To go on this journey with Parker Palmer into the uncharted territory of ′the self′ in teaching is not only to experience the joy of viewing teaching from a thrilling new perspective. It is also to be in the presence of a great teacher who, by sharing himself so openly and honestly, engages us in the very kind of teaching he so eloquently describes." (Russell Edgerton, director of educational programs, Pew Charitable Trusts, and past president, American Association for Higher Education)

"A profoundly moving, utterly passionate, and inspired articulation of the call to, and the pain and joy of, teaching. It is must reading for any and every teacher, at any level." (Jon Kabat–Zinn, author, Wherever You Go, There You Are, and coauthor, Everyday Blessings)

"This book is good news not just for classroom teachers and educators, but for all of us who are committed to the healing of our world." (Joanna Macy, author, World As Lover, World As Self)

"Parker Palmer has taught me more about learning and teaching than anyone else. The Courage to Teach is for all of us leaders, public officials, counselors, as well as teachers. It compassionately and insistently asks us to recognize that our capacity to do good work springs from our recognition of who we are." (Margaret J. Wheatley, author, Leadership and the New Science, and coauthor, A Simpler Way)

"This is a profoundly satisfying feast of a book written with a rare mix of elegance and rigor, passion and precision a gift to all who love teaching and learning." (Diana Chapman Walsh, president, Wellesley College)

"Evokes the heart of what teachers really do, and does so in a vivid, compelling, and soulful way." (Robert Coles, University Health Services, Harvard University)

About the Author

PARKER J. PALMER is a highly respected writer who works indepAndently on issues in education, community, spirituality, and social change; he offers lectures, workshops, and retreats across the country. In 1998, The Leadership Project, a survey of 11,000 educators, named Dr. Palmer as one of the thirty most influential senior leaders in higher education and one of ten key ′agAnda–setters′ of the past decade: He has inspired a generation of teachers and reformers with evocative visions of community, knowing, and spiritual wholeness. Dr. Palmer is senior associate of the American Association for Higher Education and senior advisor to the Fetzer Institute, for whom he designed the Teacher Formation Program for K–12 teachers. Author of such widely–praised books as The Company of Strangers, The Active Life, and To Know As We Are Known, he holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0470580704
• ISBN 13: 9780470580707
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 272