Originally Published with Teachers College Press in 1992 Foreword by Maxine Greene Are teachers ever given the credit and respect they deserve? Is there a place where they can go to be treated as intelligent professionals rather than as underpaid tools of school administrations or the government? For some teachers the answer to these questions is, finally, yes! The focus of A Place for Teacher Renewal is the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching, a statefunded university-based program, located in the Western North Carolina mountains, and designed to renew and retain teachers of all kinds. As an exemplary teacher renewal and staff development program, NCCAT strengthens teachers' commitment to their practice by offering outstanding teachers the opportunity for intensive personal investigation into topics inside or outside of their specialties. This hands-on study—extensive, concrete, and engaging—is just what many teachers need. After the tediousness and hectic pace of classroom life, they need a chance to use their intellect just for themselves. Teachers given a chance to express their full adult selves, a chance to be renewed by intellectual challenge, a chance to be valued as competent professionals, are more likely to stay in the profession. Chapters provide the reader with an historical perspective on the Center, arguments for the rationale of the Center, an overview of the programs offered, the roles of administration and evaluation in the creation and continued success of the Center, and NCCAT’s future role in teacher renewal. Many chapters are written by NCCAT staff members, all of whom are also experienced educators. A foreword by Maxine Greene and a chapter by Gary Griffin, as respected educators not affiliated with NCCAT, offer objective and very supportive comments on an idea, and a program, that is long overdue. Staff developers and anyone interested in teacher retention and renewal will find this case study of the finest teacher renewal program in the nation to be an invaluable resource.

"This book is for teachers who have good days and bad -- and whose bad days bring the suffering that comes only from something one loves. It is for teachers who refuse to harden their hearts, because they love learners, learning, and the teaching life." - Parker J. Palmer [from the Introduction] Teachers choose their vocation for reasons of the heart, because they care deeply about their students and about their subject. But the demands of teaching cause too many educators to lose heart. Is it possible to take heart in teaching once more so that we can continue to do what good teachers always do -- give heart to our students? In The Courage to Teach, Parker 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.

Drawing on more than twenty years of teaching experience, Christina Bieber Lake helps you rediscover your passion for the teaching profession. Creatively structured around the typical rhythms of the academic calendar, this book offers refreshing and practiced advice about how to flourish in the midst of the teaching life.

This title examines professional learning in the contemporary milieu of public education, considering the impact of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top on such encounters for art educators. Drawing from prominent scholars of philosophy and education (Greene, Dewey, Gadamer), aesthetic experiential play is theorized as a catalyst for teacher renewal through the embodied intensities (Merleau Ponty, Deleuze) it prompts: an aesthetic swell and afterglow. The swell is conceptualized as a movement that unmoors teachers as learners, setting them adrift towards unanticipated, surprising possibilities. Afterglow is an illuminated space that unfolds with a commitment and openness to move in swell towards the ever expanding new. This text invites readers into the findings of a qualitative research inquiry by unfolding a yearlong correspondence of letterpress printed postcards and hand rendered letters exchanged between the author and a cohort of K-12 art teachers. The innovative epistolary form evokes the relational and arts-based educational research methodologies that informed this lively aesthetic inquiry, providing new directions and possibilities for both art educators and arts researchers to explore. Advocating for more complex understandings regarding how educators become renewed as artists and as teachers, this poetic and pictorial text provokes an expanded vision for what counts as professional learning, and the processes by which teacher renewal is nourished and experienced.“Theorists, pedagogues, methodologists and researchers, alike, will find themselves in aesthetic play as they experience the flows, swells, and intensities that Hofsess beautifully crafts ... A brilliant piece of art.” – Mark D. Vagle, The University of Minnesota “Hofsess refocuses our attention to what really matters in education: how, as Elliot Eisner said, the teaching of art is more than the teaching of art.” – Richard Siegesmund, Northern Illinois University “Title illuminates the challenges and possibilities of maintaining transformative experiences in the everyday practice of K-12 art education.” – Tracie Costantino, Rhode Island School of Design Brooke Hofsess, Assistant Professor at Appalachian State University, received her MA in Art & Art Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and her PhD in Art Education from The University of Georgia. She comes to academia with seven years of professional experience as a K-12 art educator. Her research on teacher education and renewal has received honors including the Elliot Eisner Doctoral Research Award in Art Education from the National Art Education Association, and the Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Arts Based Educational Research special interest group of the American Educational Research Association.

This is the first book devoted to the study of the thought of Albert Schweitzer as it relates to educational theory and practice. Rud argues that Schweitzer's life and work offer inspiration and timely insights for both educational thought and practice in our new century.

The study of educational leadership makes little sense unless it is in relation to who the leaders are, how they are leading, what is being led, and with what effect. Based on the premise that learning is at the heart of leadership and that leaders themselves should be learners, the Leadership for Learning series explores the connections between educational leadership, policy, curriculum, human resources and accountability. Each book in the series approaches its subject matter through a three-fold structure of process, themes and impact. Series Editors - Clive Dimmock, Mark Brundrett and Les Bell The notion that school transformation is dependent on exceptional leaders is increasingly seen as unrealistic and unsustainable. Instead, the idea of distributed leadership, which promotes the view that all stakeholders have complementary leadership roles to play in enhancing student learning, is now being promoted as a more useful framework for understanding schools and how they might be changed. Subscribing to the notion of distributed leadership, O’Donoghue and Clarke identify two key groups: the ‘leaders of learning’ and the ‘leaders for learning’. The leaders of learning – and the focus of this book – are those working at the school level to improve the quality of learning in the classroom, such as teachers, principals, pupils and involved members of the local school community. The leaders for learning are the policy-makers and administrators whose support is crucial. The authors argue that in order to be effective leaders, both groups require an understanding of: Broad trends in contemporary leadership theory Recent views on learning theory The importance of teachers engaging continually in learning about their practice The significance of creating and sustaining schools as learning organisations Forging links between leadership and learning The book’s examination of the shifting approaches to leading learning in contemporary schools is enriched by innovative examples drawn from a range of international contexts. Leading Learning will appeal to students involved in masters and doctoral courses relevant to the field and those undertaking programmes of school leadership preparation and development. It will also be of interest to academics working in the field of educational leadership and management.