A Panel on Parker Palmer s The Courage to Teach

1. A Panel on Parker Palmer�s The Courage to Teach School of Public and Environmental Affairs � Indiana University Northwest Susan Zinner Richard Hug Ellen Szarleta Karen Evans National Conference on Teaching Public Administration -- 2005

2. The Heart of a Teacher: Identity and Integrity in Teaching Richard W. Hug

3. The Approach Panel Overview The Courage to Teach Chapter Quotes and Summaries Chapter One � The Heart of a Teacher Chapter Notes Reflections on Implications for: Academics in general Public Affairs education Indiana University Northwest

4. The Courage to Teach:Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher�s Life Parker J. Palmer

5. Introduction:  Teaching From Within �Technique is what we use until the real teacher arrives, and this book is about helping that teacher show up� (p. 5) The first heading in the introduction is �We Teach Who We Are�. Parker Palmer challenges us to go beyond the traditional questions in education: the What (subjects), the How (methods and techniques), even the Why (purposes and ends) questions. He asks us to examine the Who question. Who is the self that teaches? So Parker Palmer says that Technique is what we use until the teacher arrives. Later he says that to educate is �to guide students on an inner journey toward more truthful ways of seeing and being in the world.� (p. 6). He then wonders how schools can perform their missions �without encouraging the guides to scout out that inner terrain.�The first heading in the introduction is �We Teach Who We Are�. Parker Palmer challenges us to go beyond the traditional questions in education: the What (subjects), the How (methods and techniques), even the Why (purposes and ends) questions. He asks us to examine the Who question. Who is the self that teaches? So Parker Palmer says that Technique is what we use until the teacher arrives. Later he says that to educate is �to guide students on an inner journey toward more truthful ways of seeing and being in the world.� (p. 6). He then wonders how schools can perform their missions �without encouraging the guides to scout out that inner terrain.�

6. One: The Heart of a Teacher: Identity and Integrity in Teaching The premise of the book: Good teaching cannot be reduced to technique. Good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher. What we teach will never �take� unless it connects with our students� inward teachers. We can speak to that teacher within our students only when we are on speaking terms with the teacher within ourselves. More about this chapter later. For now it suffices to say that this chapter provides the basis for the rest of the book starting with his basic premise. Later, I�ll go over what Palmer means by the identity and integrity of the teacher More about this chapter later. For now it suffices to say that this chapter provides the basis for the rest of the book starting with his basic premise. Later, I�ll go over what Palmer means by the identity and integrity of the teacher

7. Two: A Culture of Fear: Education and the Disconnected Life �How, and why, does academic culture discourage us from living connected lives? How, and why, does it encourage us to distance ourselves from our students and our subjects, to teach and learn at some remove from our own hearts.� (p. 35) This chapter argues that fear is pervasive in education � in the lives of both students and teachers. It is about a series of fears faced by teachers and learners including the most terrifying: �the fear that a live encounter with otherness will challenge or even compel us to change our lives�. (p. 38). In concluding this chapter Palmer says that the path to transcending the fear is spiritual � and that all the great spiritual traditions originate in an effort to overcome the effects of fear in our lives. In this chapter Palmer argues that we can have fear but we do not need to be fear � that we can find places in our inner landscapes from which to speak We can, for example, speak from a place of honest about being fearful rather than from the fear itself.This chapter argues that fear is pervasive in education � in the lives of both students and teachers. It is about a series of fears faced by teachers and learners including the most terrifying: �the fear that a live encounter with otherness will challenge or even compel us to change our lives�. (p. 38). In concluding this chapter Palmer says that the path to transcending the fear is spiritual � and that all the great spiritual traditions originate in an effort to overcome the effects of fear in our lives. In this chapter Palmer argues that we can have fear but we do not need to be fear � that we can find places in our inner landscapes from which to speak We can, for example, speak from a place of honest about being fearful rather than from the fear itself.

8. Three: The Hidden Wholeness: Paradox in Teaching and Learning Niels Bohr, the Nobel prize-winning physicist, offers the keystone I want to build on: �The opposite of a true statement is a false statement, but the opposite of a profound truth may be another profound truth�. (p. 62) Susan Zinner will take up this chapter in her presentation. At this point it suffices to say that Chapter three is about paradoxes � that in some circumstances truth is �a paradoxical joining of apparent opposites, and if we want to know the truth we must learn to embrace those opposites as true.� (p. 63)Susan Zinner will take up this chapter in her presentation. At this point it suffices to say that Chapter three is about paradoxes � that in some circumstances truth is �a paradoxical joining of apparent opposites, and if we want to know the truth we must learn to embrace those opposites as true.� (p. 63)

9. Four: Knowing in Community: Joined by the grace of great things �To teach is to create a space in which the community of truth is practiced.� (p. 90) �Truth is an eternal conversation about things that matter, conducted with passion and discipline. � (p. 104) In chapter four Palmer moves from the inner landscape to the community. As he puts it, �The first three chapters were about cultivating the inner ground from which community grows; the next three are about growing community from that inner ground into the classroom and the larger world�. The two quotes selected from this chapter suggest his direction here. Ellen Szarleta will explore this chapter in greater detail.In chapter four Palmer moves from the inner landscape to the community. As he puts it, �The first three chapters were about cultivating the inner ground from which community grows; the next three are about growing community from that inner ground into the classroom and the larger world�. The two quotes selected from this chapter suggest his direction here. Ellen Szarleta will explore this chapter in greater detail.

10. Five: Teaching in Community: A Subject-Centered Education �Passion for the subject propels that subject, not the teacher, into the center of the learning circle � and when a great thing is in their midst, students have direct access to the energy of learning and of life.� (p. 120) I recently caught myself telling a student that in SPEA we try to put the subject in the center. I was echoing what I had heard from Karen Evans � she will elaborate on this chapter � and, no doubt, let us know how this squares with what John Dewey has to say on this topic.I recently caught myself telling a student that in SPEA we try to put the subject in the center. I was echoing what I had heard from Karen Evans � she will elaborate on this chapter � and, no doubt, let us know how this squares with what John Dewey has to say on this topic.

11. Six: Learning in Community: The Conversation of Colleagues �When I imagine the community of truth gathered around some great thing � from DNA � to the French Revolution � I wonder: Could teachers gather around the great thing called �teaching and learning� and explore its mysteries with the same respect we accord any subject worth knowing?� (p. 141) This chapter is about what our teaching conference is about or should be about. Palmer argues that we need to spend less time talking about technique and more time talking about the topics explored in this book -- the inner landscape of teachers and community in education.This chapter is about what our teaching conference is about or should be about. Palmer argues that we need to spend less time talking about technique and more time talking about the topics explored in this book -- the inner landscape of teachers and community in education.

12. Seven: Divided No More: Teaching From a Heart of Hope �The starting point of a movement, though silent and barely visible, can be described with some precision. It happens when isolated individuals who suffer from a situation that needs changing decide to live �divided no more�. These people come to a juncture where they must choose between allowing selfhood to die or claiming the identity and integrity from which good living, as well a good teaching come. In this final chapter, Palmer writes of educational reform. He sees it coming in the form of a movement � comparable to the civil rights and women�s movement. He describes the four stages of movements � divided no more, communities of congruence, going public, and alternative rewards.In this final chapter, Palmer writes of educational reform. He sees it coming in the form of a movement � comparable to the civil rights and women�s movement. He describes the four stages of movements � divided no more, communities of congruence, going public, and alternative rewards.

13. Chapter One: The Heart of a Teacher �Good teachers join self and subject and students in the fabric of life � They are able to weave a complex web of connections between themselves, their subjects and their students so that students can learn to weave a world for themselves.� (p.11) Earlier I said that chapter one says that we teach who we are and that good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher. This quote summarizes Palmer�s thoughts on what good teachers are able to do. Earlier I said that chapter one says that we teach who we are and that good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher. This quote summarizes Palmer�s thoughts on what good teachers are able to do.

14. Chapter One: The Heart of a Teacher (continued) �The connections made by good teachers are held not in their methods but in their hearts � meaning heart in the ancient sense, as the place where intellect and emotion and spirit will converge in the human self.� (p. 11) Palmer continues his thought with this passage on connections. He feels the need to explain that he is talking about �heart� in the ancient sense � the sense of heart as �blood pump� having taken over the �first definition� in the modern world. Palmer continues his thought with this passage on connections. He feels the need to explain that he is talking about �heart� in the ancient sense � the sense of heart as �blood pump� having taken over the �first definition� in the modern world.

15. Chapter One: The Heart of a Teacher (continued) �The courage to teach is the courage to keep one�s heart open in those very moments when the heart is asked to hold more than it is able so that teacher and students and subject can be woven into the fabric of community that learning, and living, require.� (p. 11) Palmer continues with this sentence � the signature sentence of the book.Palmer continues with this sentence � the signature sentence of the book.

16. Chapter One: The Heart of a Teacher (continued) Identity � �� an evolving nexus where all the forces that constitute my life converge in the mystery of self.� (p. 13) Integrity -- �� whatever wholeness I am able to find within that nexus as its vectors form and reform the pattern of my life.� (p. 13) The subtitle for chapter one is �Identity and Integrity in teaching�. It�s time now to look at Palmer�s definitions for them. For identity the things that converge in the mystery of self include �genetic makeup, the nature of the man and woman who gave me life, the culture in which I was raised, the people who have sustained me and people who have done me harm, the good and ill I have done to others and to myself, the experience of love and suffering and much more. In the midst of that complex field, identity is a moving intersection of the inner and outer forces that make me who I am, converging in the irreducible mystery of being human. (p. 13) About integrity, Palmer goes on to say that it �requires that I discern what is integral to my selfhood, what fits and what does not � and that I choose life-giving ways of relating to the forces that converge within me: Do I welcome them or fear them, embrace them or reject them, move with them or against them? By choosing integrity, I become more whole, but wholeness does not mean perfection. It means becoming more real by acknowledging the whole of who I am. Palmer illustrates identity and integrity with two stories � of Eric and Alan � one who taught from an integrated and undivided self with a craftsman-like approach to teaching. The other, who, due to his experiences in the academic world, learned to be critical and judgmental � driven to inflict on his students the same wounds inflicted on him � the wound of being embarrassed by some essential part of one�s self.The subtitle for chapter one is �Identity and Integrity in teaching�. It�s time now to look at Palmer�s definitions for them. For identity the things that converge in the mystery of self include �genetic makeup, the nature of the man and woman who gave me life, the culture in which I was raised, the people who have sustained me and people who have done me harm, the good and ill I have done to others and to myself, the experience of love and suffering and much more. In the midst of that complex field, identity is a moving intersection of the inner and outer forces that make me who I am, converging in the irreducible mystery of being human. (p. 13) About integrity, Palmer goes on to say that it �requires that I discern what is integral to my selfhood, what fits and what does not � and that I choose life-giving ways of relating to the forces that converge within me: Do I welcome them or fear them, embrace them or reject them, move with them or against them? By choosing integrity, I become more whole, but wholeness does not mean perfection. It means becoming more real by acknowledging the whole of who I am. Palmer illustrates identity and integrity with two stories � of Eric and Alan � one who taught from an integrated and undivided self with a craftsman-like approach to teaching. The other, who, due to his experiences in the academic world, learned to be critical and judgmental � driven to inflict on his students the same wounds inflicted on him � the wound of being embarrassed by some essential part of one�s self.

17. Chapter One: The Heart of a Teacher: (continued) When Teachers Lose Heart Mentors Who Evoked Us Subjects That Chose Us The Teacher Within The rest of the chapter deals with renewal � a response to �losing heart� � a result of the �daily exercise in vulnerability� that we engage in. He suggests that we regain our selfhood, refresh our hearts by reflecting on the mentors who got us started and the subjects that called us � that demanded our attention. It is in the discussion mentors that Palmer discusses the role of teaching technique � �as we learn who we are we can learn techniques that reveal rather than conceal the personhood from which good teaching comes.� Mentors show us this � not the techniques � and if we try to emulate our mentor�s style we may be doomed to failure if it does not square with our own identities. A second way to recover the heart to teach is to �remember how that subject evoked a sense of self that was only dormant in us before we encountered the subject�s way of naming and framing life.� For Palmer it was C Wright Mill�s �sociological imagination�. The �teacher within� is the voice of identity and integrity within us. It is not the voice of conscience speaking �not of what ought to be for us but of what is real for us, of what is true.�The rest of the chapter deals with renewal � a response to �losing heart� � a result of the �daily exercise in vulnerability� that we engage in. He suggests that we regain our selfhood, refresh our hearts by reflecting on the mentors who got us started and the subjects that called us � that demanded our attention. It is in the discussion mentors that Palmer discusses the role of teaching technique � �as we learn who we are we can learn techniques that reveal rather than conceal the personhood from which good teaching comes.� Mentors show us this � not the techniques � and if we try to emulate our mentor�s style we may be doomed to failure if it does not square with our own identities. A second way to recover the heart to teach is to �remember how that subject evoked a sense of self that was only dormant in us before we encountered the subject�s way of naming and framing life.� For Palmer it was C Wright Mill�s �sociological imagination�. The �teacher within� is the voice of identity and integrity within us. It is not the voice of conscience speaking �not of what ought to be for us but of what is real for us, of what is true.�

18. Chapter One: The Heart of a Teacher (continued) �I have no particular methods to suggest, other than the familiar ones: solitude and silence, meditative reading and walking in the woods, keeping a journal, finding a friend who will listen. I simply propose that we need to learn as many ways as we can of talking to ourselves.� Earlier, I mentioned Palmer�s points about the importance of the teacher within � that what we teach will never �take� unless it connects with our students� inward teachers and that to do that we must be on �speaking terms� with our own inward teachers. In the last part of chapter one Palmer addresses the question that is the subject of this final quotation �How does one attend to the voice of the teacher within?� With luck, and determination, we will all find some time during this conference to follow his suggestions and make make some connections with our inner teachers. Earlier, I mentioned Palmer�s points about the importance of the teacher within � that what we teach will never �take� unless it connects with our students� inward teachers and that to do that we must be on �speaking terms� with our own inward teachers. In the last part of chapter one Palmer addresses the question that is the subject of this final quotation �How does one attend to the voice of the teacher within?� With luck, and determination, we will all find some time during this conference to follow his suggestions and make make some connections with our inner teachers.

19. Reflections on Implications Academics in general Public Affairs Education Indiana University Northwest

20. Implications: Academics in General Focus on Faculty Development Stop Pedagogy Wars Stamp Out Fear Promote (require?) faculty to talk to each other � to visit each other Accrediting Bodies � Measure Hearts Promote faculty development

21. Implications: Public Affairs Education Value practitioners as teachers � encourage mid-career Ph.D.�s Encourage teachers to Model the �Spirit of Public Administration� Organize more conferences that allow more time for �identity and integrity�, community, and putting teaching and learning at the center.

22. Implications: Public Affairs Education (continued) Value our students� knowledge Encourage students to find their true identities � to explore their inward teachers � their vocations Vocation � �the place where your deep gladness and the world�s deep hunger meet� (p. 30 --citing Frederick Buechner)

23. Implications: Indiana University Northwest Meeting together � here Graduate student orientation Exploring Palmer�s lessons Recruiting faculty � both types The Journal Sharing at faculty meetings Visiting each others� classes

25. A Panel on Parker Palmer�s The Courage to Teach School of Public and Environmental Affairs � Indiana University Northwest Susan Zinner Richard Hug Ellen Szarleta Karen Evans National Conference on Teaching Public Administration -- 2005