CETL Archives
Book Talks Archive - Spring 2003
The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life and The Courage to Teach: A Guide for Reflection and Renewal
Authors: Parker Palmer and Rachel C. Livsey
Date: Thursday, Jan. 30, 2003
Time: 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Location: Atwood - N. Glacier Room
Facilitators: Pat Hauslein (BIOL); Roseanna
Ross (CMST); Michele Kucoleca Hammes (POL), and Tom Hergert (LR&TS/CIM)
Description: Back by popular demand- The
Courage to Teach, by teacher,
philosopher, and educational activist Parker Palmer. The FCTE
sponsored a Book Talk two years ago on this book, and the FCTE
Advisory Committee suggested we do it again because the Book
Talk was so well received. A number of people were unable to
attend because of scheduling conflicts, so we’ve brought
it back again.
In The Courage to Teach, Dr.
Palmer takes teachers on an inner journey toward reconnecting with
their vocation and their students - and recovering their passion
for one of the most difficult and important of human endeavors.
This book builds on a simple premise: good teaching cannot be reduced
to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity
of the teacher. The connections made by good teachers are held
not in their methods but in their hearts-the place where intellect
and emotion and spirit will converge in the human self.
Palmer guides us through the inner work of teaching to help us
create communities of learning - and he calls on educational institutions
to support teachers in this work. The Courage to Teach “is
for teachers who have good days and bad - and whose bad days bring
the suffering that comes only from something one loves” (says
Palmer).
About the Authors: Parker Palmeris a highly respected
writer and traveling teacher who works independently on issues
in education, community, spirituality, and social change; he offers
workshops, lectures, and retreats in this country and abroad. He
is a 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. He holds a Ph.D.
from the University of California at Berkeley and lives in Madison,
Wisconsin. In 1998, Palmer was named one of the 30 most influential
senior leaders in higher education and has written six books describing
his theories on education, life and happiness. His philosophy of
educating the whole person, and making education a personal journey
for both teacher and student, is the backbone of the Courage to
Teach program he created for K-12 teachers across the country.
His approach to the “spiritual side of education” emphasizes
more than fact-based learning. Rachel Livsey wrote the original
draft of the Courage to Teach: A Guide for Reflection and Renewal.
Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples
Author: Linda Tuhiwai Smith
Date: Wed., Feb. 26, 2003
Time: 12:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Location: Atwood - Mississippi
Facilitators: Julie Andrzejewski & Jeong-Eun
Rhee (HURL), Jeanne Lacourt (ETHN), and Ramon Serrano (TDEV)
Description: Decolonizing Methodologies … provides exciting and challenging perspectives on western science and research by addressing questions like: In what ways are western scientific research and methodologies implicated in global imperialist projects historically and contemporarily? What are the consequences for indigenous knowledges around the world? How are history, imperialism, writing, and theory integrally related? Tuhiwai-Smith, a Maori scholar, goes beyond deconstructing western research to articulate a powerful indigenous research agenda and lays out 25 research projects for healing, reclaiming, transforming and mobilizing for the pursuit of social justice. This book will have a significant impact on how we teach science, research methods, and theory.
Radical Presence: Teaching as Contemplative Practice
Author: Dr. Mary Rose O'Reilley
Date: Thurs., Mrach 27, 2003
Time: 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Location: Atwood - Mississippi
Facilitators: Frankie Condon (ENGL)
and Linda Scott-Halverson (TDEV)
Description: Radical Presence is a book about our lives as well as our work, suggesting that the “secrets” of good teaching are the same as the secrets of good living: seeing one’s self without blinking, offering hospitality to the alien other, having compassion for suffering, speaking truth to power, being present and being real. These are secrets hidden in plain sight. But in an age that puts more faith in the powers of technique than in the powers of the human heart, it takes the clear sight and courage of someone like Mary Rose O’Reilley to call “secrets” of this sort to our attention. The basis of O’Reilley’s remarks is not religious; it is pedagogical. She does not preach; she shares. This is an important book that will have a significant impact on the way educators view teaching and learning. She also authored The Peaceable Classroom and The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd.
Making the Most of College: Students Speak Their Minds
Author: Richard J. Light
Date: Wed., April 16, 2003
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Atwood - Mississippi
Facilitators: Debra Japp and David
Warne (COMS) and Nathan Church and BernaDette Wilson
(Office of Vice President for Student Life and Development)
Description: “Making the Most …” has been making its mark around the country. The result of ten years of interviews with 1,600 Harvard students, Making the Most of College offers concrete advice on choosing classes, talking productively with advisors, improving writing and study skills, maximizing the value of research assignments, and connecting learning inside the classroom with the rest of life. This longitudinal study provides faculty with insight on what students really think and what drives them during their college years. Are SCSU students really different from Harvard students? There will probably be a great deal of similarities. One “tidbit” from the book: Many faculty think that most important and memorable academic learning goes on inside the classroom, while outside activities provide a modest supplement; results of study: 4/5 chose an event outside the classroom as a critical moment that had changed them significantly.
Techniques and Strategies for Interpreting Student Evaluations
Editor: Karron Lewis, editor
Date: Thurs., May 1, 2003
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Atwood - Mississippi
Facilitators: Judith Rodgers
(CIM) and Phil Keith (ENGL)
Description: Part of the New Directions for Teaching and Learning, this short book (104 pages) examines the critical subject of student evaluations of teaching, furnishing both the research base behind the use of student rating and suggestions for interpreting the data they provide. Focuses on all phases of the student rating process - from data-gathering methods to presentation of results. Topics include methods of encouraging meaningful evaluations, mid-semester feedback, uses of quality teams and focus groups, and creating questions that target individual faculty needs and interest. With a humorous look at the popular myths surrounding student evaluations and emerging research on what is known concerning student evaluations and their use, this volume argues that the evaluation of teaching is a learning process in itself.
