The Courage to Teach

Since I started my voice blog, I've spent much more time with it, and less on my other blog. Today, I have a post that fits perfectly with both, so I will be double posting (kind of like when I used the same paper for my college theatre history class and a music class.)

I just finished reading The Courage to Teach by Parker Palmer. When I was just a few pages into it, I looked back at the original publication date (1998) and wondered how I missed reading this amazing book in the 10+ years that it's been out. It's been said that when the student is ready, the teacher appears (possibly a Buddist proverb; I can't find anything definite.) And I was definitely ready for this book.

I'm not going to do a book review, since I'm sure you can find better ones elsewhere, but I am going to share some of the things that tied in very well with where I am in my life right now. On page 10 he says, "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."

Integrity has always been something I've worked for, but I feel like I'm embracing it more now. And I'm embracing it in a way that is new for me. In the past, in my life, I've tended to lean towards this definition of integrity: "firm adherance to a code of esp. moral or artistic values."
There is nothing particularly wrong with that, except that the values I was adhering to belonged to other people. The integrity Palmer talks about, and what I've been leaning towards now, is "the quality or state of being complete or undivided." It's understanding what my personal code of values is and living all parts of my life that way. It's knowing who I am and allowing that true identity to come through in my interactions with others, rather than responding the way I think they want me to respond.

Palmer also addressed the issue of paradox. We live in a society that works with either/or, black/white, yes/no dichotomies. However, much of what we know to be true involves paradox, seemingly contradictory ideas, that nevertheless are true and exist together. The concepts of justice and mercy create a paradox. How can they both exist? And yet this is the foundation on which the plan of salvation is built. Or in singing, look at chiaroscuro. It doesn't refer to somewhere between a bright and a dark sound. It refers to embracing both of those characteristics at the same time to find a balanced sound.

Finally, Palmer discusses subject-centered learning. In traditional teacher-centered learning, the teacher stands as an expert between the learners and subject. Everything the students know of the subject comes from the expert. They don't actually have access to the subject itself. He has some great diagrams you should check out if this isn't making sense the way I explain it. He instead advocates subject-centered learning, where we are all learners and have access to the subject itself. The teacher then functions more as a facilitator rather than an expert. You really do need to read his explanations on this. I'm just hoping to use this model more in my teaching. I think I've had some of it in the past. For example, I feel like I help students discover how to sing, and show them how to access their voices, rather that "teaching" them to sing.

It's a great book, so if you're looking for something to read, definitely check it out. I also recommend his book, "A Hidden Wholeness".