The Courage to Teach by Parker J. PalmerPublication Date: 2007
Palmer’s book asks the omnipresent question that concerns all of us who claim to be teachers: What makes a teacher successful to her students?
The question is a slippery, even subjective, one. It merits our attention all the more because the inconclusiveness of our answers leads to dialogue, and creates a community of pedagogical discourse many of us, like Palmer, desire.
For anyone who has ever had a successful teacher knows that Palmer’s conclusion is difficult to deny-superior teachers do more than just practice good pedagogy. The best ones, we may well want to assert along with Palmer, bring their identity, along with their narrative, relationality, and passion, into the classroom.
Reviewed by Jacqueline A. Bussie, Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Virginia.
The Courage to Teach by