I was enthralled by the first half of this book. Palmer spoke powerfully about what it means to teach from the heart and the importance of knowing oneself in order to be an effective successful teacher. The experiences he shares are authentic and meaningful and I found myself throughout the pages of this first section.
The second section of the book was a little more dense and esoteric, and I found that I was less able to relate to the connection Palmer was making between teaching and spirituality, between grace and sacredness and how they relate to teaching. The final section of the book summed up the need for community and the importance of connecting with other educators and the community as a whole in order to create a comprehensive learning environment that serves all students. This book had a positive and powerful affect on me, allaying a lot of my fears about teaching and letting me know I'm not alone in what I'm experiencing as an educator. I would recommend this book to any educator, at any time in their career. It is full of pithy nuggets that can improve any teacher's outlook on the field and what it takes to be an effective, caring teacher. I will keep it on my bookshelf for future reference! As I move into the next section of Palmer’s book I am struck by his shift to esoteric descriptions of the grace and sacredness of education. Where I was eating up the first half of his book, I am now struggling to connect with his thoughts and theories related to education. Parker discusses the Holiness (with a capital H) and the mystery of our collective minds and the nature of great things. Where the previous chapters had me thinking, “Wow, this book was written for me,” this next section is leaving me feeling disconnected and unable to wrap my head around Palmer’s meaning as he delves into “diversity, ambiguity, and creative conflict,” as it relates to education. (p. 85).
In further sections of the book, Palmer describes the culture of disrespect that we are currently confronted with as educators. I think this is a real problem; I witness children disrespecting their parents, teachers, and others in position of authority in ways we would never have dreamed of as young people. We, as teachers, have to wade through this culture of disrespect, attempting to teach not only academics to our students but basic traits of humanity and decency. This is a huge responsibility that should not be shouldered by teachers alone. Palmer speaks in the last section of his book about the importance of community as it relates to schools and teaching. We cannot teach in a vacuum, insists Palmer. It is only through community with fellow teachers that we can improve our teaching. We must step outside our classroom doors and commune with like-minded professional educators in order to create a comprehensive learning environment. We have much to learn from other teachers, and much to offer others as well. It is through this communion that we succeed, according to Palmer. (p. 141). Mr. Palmer continues to touch my core as he moves on to write about the culture of fear that can permeate a classroom. His description of fearful students and teachers both strike a chord with me. I returned to school to become a teacher at age 48. Because I chose to become a PE teacher and needed a degree in kinesiology, I had to start practically from scratch, with only a few general education courses from my previous degree counting towards my kinesiology degree. Looking back, I can remember the fear I felt each semester as I started classes with students half my age and younger. Now, reading Palmer’s description of the fearful student, I feel as though I have been blind and unfair to the students I have worked with thus far. Knowing the fear of being a student and not being able to recognize it my own students made me shutter. I need to recognize the fear in my students’ hearts and help them through it, as Palmer suggests on page 47. As a teacher, I have felt the fear that Palmer describes. To this point I’ve assumed that that fear comes from my insecurity and inexperience as a teacher. But Palmer, an experienced veteran teacher speaks of feeling that fear even after years of teaching. I am going to make a conscious effort to teach not from that fearful place but from a place of curiosity, hope, empathy and honesty of which Palmer writes. (p. 57). Next, Palmer describes the six paradoxes of a healthy, comprehensive classroom. These include being bounded and open; hospitable and charged; catering to both the individual and the group; supportive of solitude and community and; welcoming in both silence and speech. Allowing these paradoxes to coexist in our classrooms is how we ensure that each and every student is valued and learns according to their individual needs as a person. I would have to agree with Palmer that holding up to this standard would be difficult but worth it. (p. 83). Palmer states on page 85, “By holding the tension of opposites, we hold the gateway to inquiry open, inviting students into a territory in which we all can learn.” To me, this sums up good pedagogy. For my choice book this semester I am reading The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life by Parker J. Palmer (1998). I was instantly taken by the heart of Palmer, his passion for teaching, and for teachers. This is the perfect book at the perfect time for me, as I enter into this vocation. Mr. Palmer’s honest and forthright views and insights about teaching are music to my ears. He speaks of the joys and heartaches that teaching can provoke. As a teacher candidate, I have experienced both the good days and bad days that Palmers describes on page one. And I was happy to read that caring about the bad days is a good thing, in his opinion. With so little experience under my belt, I have had my share of bad days (or lessons), where I went home in despair, trying to figure out how and where I went wrong. Palmer’s statement on page one, “we teach who we are” is a compelling introduction and makes me want to read on… Palmer’s emphasis on getting to know the teacher within makes perfect sense to me. How can I teach my students if I don’t know where I’m coming from as a teacher? He also speaks of connections with students being made through a teacher’s heart, not their methods. (p. 11). This holds so true of my teaching. I can know my lesson inside and out but if my heart is not there with my kids the lesson comes up empty. If a person were to remember the name of any good teacher they had in the past, that teacher was most definitely, in my opinion, teaching from the heart. On page 25, Palmer speaks of the transition from apprentice to mentor, and how at one point he realized that it was time for him to “offer to younger people the gift (of mentoring) that had been given to me when I was young.” That statement brought about an epiphany for me in which I realized that I have not had a lot of good mentors in my life. My professional and personal life has been a series of trial and error, attempting to mentor myself, I now realize. Perhaps that is why it took me 50 years to realize that my life’s passion lay in teaching! I was raised in a dysfunctional alcoholic home, with a father who was extremely mean and verbally abusive. I have always been envious of people with nice fathers and wondered what it would have been like to grow up with a father who supported and loved me. Now I am realizing that I was short-changed in the mentoring department as well. Not that I am feeling sorry for myself; just another way to reach within and understand the person I am today. “Subjects That Chose Us” (p. 25). Again, Palmer speaks to my heart when he explains that we didn’t just choose our subjects, they chose us. For me, this is so true. I “found” myself through sports as a kid. My self-worth and confidence were built around my athletic ability and love of sports and outdoor activities. This explains the passion and heart I bring to teaching PE today. When I chose to switch careers several years ago and pursue a teaching degree, people were not at all approving of the fact that I only wanted to teach PE. The consensus was that I needed to make myself more “marketable” by having an add-on to my credential in science or another academic subject. I listened to my heart, which was saying, “If I can’t teach PE I don’t want to teach.” As fortune would have it, I am entering the teaching field at a time when PE teachers are in great demand. I will not say I told you so to all the naysayers… Chapter 7
Quote: “In the new information economy, expertise is less about having a stockpile of information at one’s disposal and increasingly about knowing how to find and evaluate information on a given topic.” This quote sums up the reason we need to transform our school from teacher-centered to student-centered learning. Question: How can we bring all teachers on board to the realization that standing in front of the class and “handing out knowledge” no longer works in today’s world? Inquiry-based learning is fundamental to our students’ ability to think for themselves and explore the vast amounts of information available to them on the internet and beyond. Connection: I can truly connect to this chapter in that I need to learn how to find information when I need to. I become overwhelmed when going on an internet search for information – somewhat akin to shopping at Nordstrom Rack – the vast amount of merchandise to choose makes my head spin and gives me anxiety. The where question posed in the book resonates with me…where do I go to look for what I need? Epiphany: On page 98 of our text the authors write about the ability to organize, connect, and make sense of things… It made me realize that I not only need to know where to look for information but then need to be able screen through all the information to organize and make sense of what I find. This is not so much an epiphany as a wakeup call that I have a lot of work to do in becoming a proficient seeker and user of information. Chapter 8 Quote: “Thus the first aspect of indwelling, which hanging out begins to develop, is social experience.” This statement brings home the point of how important social experience is. Whether it’s experience as in experiencing the social aspect of life, or experience as in gaining experience at the social aspect of life; each of these things are important aspects of living a successful, happy life. Question: How do we find the happy medium where our kids are experiencing both the social aspect of connecting on the internet and also connecting with other like-minded kids face-to -face, in order to learn the art of socialization? This question is a loaded one. Kids these days spend so much time on their devices that they are losing the ability to socialize with others on a personal, face-to-face basis. Connection: My connection to this chapter has to do with my son, who is a sophomore in college. School is a struggle for him and I am constantly encouraging him to join a study group, that that is the best way to learn and succeed in school. Perhaps if he were more adept socially this would be easier for him to do. As it is, I think social situations beyond his work and hobbies are intimidating because he is of the “device” generation. Epiphany: Writing about my connection was when I had my epiphany – that my son doesn’t not join a study group because he doesn’t want to, or believe me when I say it’s a great way to learn. Perhaps he doesn’t join a study group because of his lack of social experience. Chapter 9 Quote: “…knowledge economy.” That phrase is so powerful and pithy. I never thought of the vast amount of information and knowledge available out there in terms of having its own economy but it makes perfect sense. Question: The quote I chose, “knowledge economy,” makes me wonder about the future of the information age and how people will begin to profit from it in ways we can’t imagine now. Connection: I really connected with the last sentence of the book, “where imaginations play learning happens.” Letting our imaginations take us on journeys of learning is how things are discovered and inventions are made. Bringing imagination and play to the forefront of our teaching is the way we begin to transform our education system. Epiphany: Not so much an epiphany as an observation that the older people get, the less imaginative they tend to be. There has got to be a way to keep our collective imagination alive and thriving. And it has to do with how we teach our children. Chapter 4
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AuthorWelcome to my blog! I am about all things active. I look forward to learning how to blog this semester in EDSS 5521! Archives
April 2016
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