The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life (Hardcover)

by Parker J. Palmer (Author) "Not long before I started this book, as summer took a slow turn toward fall, I walked into a college classroom and into my third..." (more)
Key Phrases: Rosa Parks, Habits of the Heart, Big Six

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
As a spiritually inspirational book for teachers, The Courage to Teach is one of the best. The premise is concise and unarguable: good teaching comes from the identity and the integrity of the teacher. Teachers are encouraged to turn their inquiring minds inward--developing a deeper understanding of what it means to fulfill the spiritual calling of teaching. Good teachers share one trait, says author Parker Palmer, they are able to weave a complex web of connections among themselves, their subjects, and their students, so that students can learn to 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 and emotion and spirit and will converge in the human self. --Gail Hudson

From Library Journal
Palmer (To Know as We Are Known, HarperCollins, 1993) is a senior adviser at the Fetzer Institute and has taught at Beloit College and Georgetown University. He discusses the inner life of the dedicated teacher and how that life shapes teaching and learning. According to Palmer, "Teaching, like any truly human activity, emerges from one's inwardness, for better or worse." In this book, he explores the inner landscape of the teaching self, and to understand that landscape more fully, he discusses three important paths that must be taken?intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. Recommended for all teachers, this book would be a valuable addition to professional and teacher education collections.?Barbara S. Meagher, Central Connecticut State Univ., New Britain
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1st edition (November 21, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787910589
• ISBN-13: 978-0787910587
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,158 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

123 of 125 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So, Why Do You Teach?, November 20, 2000

By	Mark Valentine (Port Angeles, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In many ways, it is itself an act of courage to read this book. Mr. Palmer has taken the rare, difficult task of probing to the heart of the learning experience and seeks to reveal its essence for any teacher willing to explore with him. In this task--like a good teacher--he asks more questions than he answers and he is concerned in discovering the process and the means of learning and teaching.

For me, what lingers after finishing the short book are two key concepts his identifies: identity and integrity. For each individual teacher, the need to have some balanced perspective of self-identity becomes paramount. Do I teach to peddle my agenda? Do I teach in order to be the 'big fish in a little pond'? Do I teach because I like the stage? Or, Do I teach in order to fulfill an inner yearning, even sadness?. Next, the balance of integrity must center a good teacher. Do I seek fairness among my students? Do I build good habits of discipline? Do I live justly? Eschew competition? Seek first of all to teach meaning, itself a subject-centered approach?

See? These are the kinds of questions that echo in my mind after reading The Courage To Teach. I particularly like what Mr. Palmer had to say regarding fear, teaching from fear, and hiding among our fears while facing them. Beauty lies in the paradox.

Now, I look for those critical moments in teaching for what they are. I strive to find my identity in my students' faces; I am challenged to live with integrity in my heart AND in my mind.

No student of educational reform should be without this book.

One more thing: if nothing else, read this book for the research and precious quotes that Mr. Palmer uses. His endnotes are worth the price alone.

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought-provoking, July 14, 1999

By	A. C. Hughes (Pulaski, TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Though not an easy book to read, as a teacher of some thirty years I find this book to be challenging, inspiring and definitely thought-provoking. Too often we as teachers rely on the tried and true and as a result become somewhat stale. Mr. Palmer is challenging us to reexamine not only our teaching styles but ourselves as teachers. I shall read it through time and again and would definitely recommend it to anyone who has the heart and soul of a teacher.

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that makes the teacher look inward, July 6, 1998

By	Bob Welsh [e-mail] "bobwel" (Black Mountain, North Carolina) - See all my reviews

What made us teachers in the first place? Palmer asks. We fell in love with a subject that spoke to us deeply and personally. Why does that intial inspiration so often leave us, and the daily grind of the job take its place? Palmer tries to restore that depth, that bright inspiration that got us going as teachers in the first place. It will take courage, he points out, for us teachers to speak and act from that deep place where our subject inspires us; but for our students' sake, and for the sake of our own souls, we must take that courage. His story on page 59 of the shop teacher who finally grasped the courage to be honest with his principal is one of the most heartening stories I've ever read. The entire book speaks powerfully to both the mind and heart of those of us who teach. And it also gives news of a national movement forming to bring teachers into dialogue with each other about the spiritual dimensions of their teaching. This is a much-needed book, one that inspires teachers to hope and to dare to be fully human in their living and their teaching.