Transformational teaching and learning are possible only within a space that encourages participation of the whole self—our hopes and dreams, as well as our doubts and fears. Such teaching and learning require a space where vulnerability is valued and not knowing is embraced as an essential step on the learning journey.
An academic journal devoted its summer issue to exploring a variety of educational initiatives that incorporate the principles and practices of the Courage & Renewal approach as developed by Parker J. Palmer and the Center for Courage & Renewal.
New Directions for Teaching and Learning – Special Issue: Teaching and Learning from the Inside Out: Revitalizing Ourselves and Our Institutions, Number 130, Summer 2012 (Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company, 2012) was edited by Courage & Renewal facilitator Margaret Golden, Ed.D., associate professor and director of The Courage to Teach Initiative in the School of Education and Counseling Psychology at Dominican University of California.
“Even though most in higher education started with feelings of hope and passion for their subject and for teaching, these feelings can sometimes be lost over time as political battles, accreditation issues, state mandates, and problems with people take center stage,” writes editor-in-chief Catherine M. Wehlburg . “This volume of NDTL helps to remind us that the connections we have with ourselves, our students, our colleagues, and our disciplines are truly important and meaningful–and should take precedence over these other smaller issues.”
The journal explores the transformative power of engaging in a Circle of Trust and the research being done by the facilitators of this work.
You can purchase individual PDF chapters at the Wiley & Sons website.
- The Principles and Practices of the Courage of Renewal Approach, written by Terry Chadsey, former executive director, and Marcy Jackson, co-founder of the Center for Courage & Renewal, describes how the approach provides a structure for faculty and students to engage in teaching and learning that awaken both heart and mind.
- Soul and role dialogues in higher education: Healing the divided self
Paul Michalec and Gary Bower tell the story of creating an intentional community at the University of Denver, where faculty and staff embrace the tensions inherent in academia to remain vibrant members of their learning community. - The Courage & Renewal® approach and a counselor training program: A hand in glove fit
Judy Goodell, who teaches in the marriage and family therapy program at the University of San Francisco, describes the principles and practices as a “hand in glove fit” with the counselor training program at Portland State University. - Dialing in to a Circle of Trust: A “medium” tech experiment and poetic evaluation
Chris Love uses the novel approach of creating found poems from participant interview to evaluate a distance-learning pilot program for pastors in Montana. - The power of paradox in learning to teach
Karen Noordhoff examines how these principles and practices help aspiring teachers appreciate the ambiguity inherent in teaching by developing an understanding of life’s paradoxes. - The role of identity in transformational learning, teaching, and leading
Michael Poutiatine and Dennis Conners analyze the role of identity development in a transformational leadership program at Gonzaga University. - Lessons learned from transformational professional development
Applying the Circles of Trust pedagogy to a professional development program for K-12 educators in Texas, Twyla Miranda considers its impact on school culture and teachers’ commitment to student achievement. - Circles of learning in Mississippi: Community recovery and democracy building
Bonnie Allen and Estrus Tucker describe how a community-in-recovery and democracy-building project in Mississippi offers a new approach to social change, one that addresses the root of human suffering. - Measuring the impact of the Courage & Renewal® approach
Janet Smith evaluates the impact of the Courage & Renewal approach on the personal and professional lives of participants from a variety of programs.
