20th ANNIVERSARY EDITION
The Courage to Teach Guide for Reflection & Renewal is a helpful companion to Parker J. Palmer's classic work on restoring identity and integrity to professional life. A superb resource for those who wish to extend their exploration of the ideas in The Courage to Teach, as individuals or part of a study group, the Guide provides practical ways to create "safe space" for honest reflection and probing conversations and offers chapter-by-chapter questions and exercises to further explore the many insights in The Courage to Teach.
The bonus online content includes a 70-minute interview with Parker Palmer, in which Palmer reflects on a wide range of subjects including the heart of the teacher, the crisis in education, diverse ways of knowing, relationships in teaching and learning, approaches to institutional transformation, and teachers as "culture heroes." Discussion questions related to the topics explored in the interview have been integrated into the Guide, giving individuals and study groups a chance to have "a conversation with the author" as well as an engagement with the text.
PARKER J. PALMER is a highly respected writer, lecturer, teacher, and activist. He is founder and Senior Partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal, which offers long-term retreat programs for people in the serving professions, including teachers, administrators, physicians, philanthropists, nonprofit leaders, and clergy. Author of nine books, including Let Your Life Speak, A Hidden Wholeness, Healing the Heart of Democracy, and The Heart of Higher Education, Palmer has been recognized with thirteen honorary doctorates and a number of national awards. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley and lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
MEGAN SCRIBNER is a freelance writer and editor with over 30 years of experience working with a wide range of authors and organizations. She is co-editor with Sam Intrator of the books Teaching with Heart, Teaching with Fire, and Leading from Within, and lives in Takoma Park, Maryland.
FOREWORD vii
INTRODUCTION 1
PART ONE Guidelines for Individual and Group Study 7
Individual Study 8
Group Study 9
Membership and Leadership
Physical Space
Intellectual Space
Emotional Space
Spiritual Space
Six Paradoxes of Space
The Clearness Committee
Touchstones for Creating Safe Spaces
A Word of Encouragement 19
PART TWO Questions and Activities for Each Chapter 21
I The Heart of a Teacher: Identity and Integrity in Teaching 25
II A Culture of Fear: Education and the Disconnected Life 35
III The Hidden Wholeness: Paradox in Teaching and Learning 45
IV Knowing in Community: Joined by the Grace of Great Things 51
V Teaching in Community: A Subject-Centered Education 59
VI Learning in Community: The Conversation of Colleagues 65
VII Divided No More: Teaching from a Heart of Hope 73
Afterword to the Tenth Anniversary Edition: The New Professional: Education for Transformation 81
APPENDIXES 93
A Suggestions for Organizing a Courage to Teach
Book Discussion Group, by David Leo-Nyquist 95
Sample Invitation Letter for a Courage to Teach
Book Discussion Group
Sample Follow-Up Letter for a Courage to Teach
Book Discussion Group
B The Heart of a Teacher: Identity and Integrity in Teaching (an essay from Change magazine that summarizes The Courage to Teach) 101
C The Clearness Committee: A Communal Approach to Discernment 123
D About the Center for Courage & Renewal 143
E The Courage to Teach: A Retreat Program for Personal Renewal and Institutional Transformation, by Parker J. Palmer 147
F Resources for Courage to Teach Discussion Groups 157
THE AUTHORS 171
ABOUT THE COMPANION MEDIA 175
Other versions by this Author
