Have you wrestled with the complexity of classroom teaching? Have you often wondered what might be impeding your performance in the classroom? Parker J. Palmer’s exploration into teaching and the problems that teachers encounter offers practical theories that address the questions one has or perhaps might not have thought to ask. This book is about Parker J. Palmer’s theories of education interwoven with his spiritual vision of education. Undergirding the spiritual aspect of his vision is his theory about the significance of the teacher’s authentic self. Within the narrative is the personal story of one teacher’s daunting experiences as she ventured into the field of teaching after a career in the corporate world. Meeting Palmer while in graduate school, and closely studying his work, served to modify her perspective about teaching for the better. This ultimately changed her as a teacher in ways that could not have occurred had she not had this encounter. This book aims to inform as well as to help transform the experience of teaching for both teacher and student.

“An eye-opening critique of contemporary [education] approaches . . . shows in concrete forms how to be a teacher and learner in the search for truth.” —Henri J. M. Nouwen, theologian and author of The Return of the Prodigal Son and The Way of the Heart This primer on authentic education explores how mind and heart can work together in the learning process. Moving beyond the bankruptcy of our current model of education, Parker Palmer finds the soul of education through a lifelong cultivation of the wisdom each of us possesses and can share to benefit others. “A phenomenon in higher education.” —The New York Times “Palmer's book will engage anyone who's involved in teaching and learning either in secular or religious institutions . . . it compels us to underline and reflect at nearly every sentence and paragraph . . . it unfolds how exciting and joyful the search for knowledge is when guided by heart-seeking teachers.” —James Sparks, University of Wisconsin, Madison “Without a doubt the most inspiring book on education I have read in a long time.” —John H. Westerhoff III, Duke University

"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.

The Heart of Learning asks teachers and students to recommit themselves to what they love most in education. The renown contributors outline a map for enabling us to connect with the very reasons why we teach and learn thus to achieve greater fulfillment in both. Incisive essays by Parker Palmer, Rachel Naomi Remen, and the Tibetan lama Dozgchen Ponlop Rinpoche examine how our unique, individual experiences of the sacred can profoundly enrich how we learn and teach. Writings by bell hooks and the Dalai Lama show how we simultaneously can cultivate both individual beliefs and openness to the diversity of the contemporary classroom. Works by Huston Smith and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi explore our need to balance our past histories and traditions with the needs of present and future generations.This extraordinary collection of original work provides a unified, inspiring, and immensely practical new paradigm for how teaching and learning can mean more, accomplish more, and inspire the best in each of us. This book is a must for every teacher, student, parent, and anyone who loves to learn.

Hope for American democracy in an era of deep divisions In Healing the Heart of Democracy, Parker J. Palmer quickens our instinct to seek the common good and gives us the tools to do it. This timely, courageous and practical work—intensely personal as well as political—is not about them, "those people" in Washington D.C., or in our state capitals, on whom we blame our political problems. It's about us, "We the People," and what we can do in everyday settings like families, neighborhoods, classrooms, congregations and workplaces to resist divide-and-conquer politics and restore a government "of the people, by the people, for the people." In the same compelling, inspiring prose that has made him a bestselling author, Palmer explores five "habits of the heart" that can help us restore democracy's foundations as we nurture them in ourselves and each other: An understanding that we are all in this together An appreciation of the value of "otherness" An ability to hold tension in life-giving ways A sense of personal voice and agency A capacity to create community Healing the Heart of Democracy is an eloquent and empowering call for "We the People" to reclaim our democracy. The online journal Democracy & Education called it "one of the most important books of the early 21st Century." And Publishers Weekly, in a Starred Review, said "This beautifully written book deserves a wide audience that will benefit from discussing it."

A look at faith through the voices of children from varied religious backgrounds, by the Pulitzer-winning author of The Moral Intelligence of Children. A New York Times Notable Book What do children think about when they consider God, Heaven and Hell, the value of life in the here and now, and the inevitability of death? Child psychiatrist, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, and Harvard professor Robert Coles spent thirty years interviewing hundreds of children—from South America and Europe to Africa and the Middle East—who are developing concepts of faith even as they struggle to understand its contradictions. Be they Catholic or Protestant, Jewish children from Boston, Pakistani children in London, agnostics, Native Americans, or young Christians in the American South, they offer honest, enlightening and sometimes startling ideas of a spiritual existence. A Hopi girl who knows for a fact that we are resurrected as birds; an African American child who believes God exists as a hurricane to “blow away” drug dealers; a young Christian who needs his faith to cope with the death of his sister, lest she be just “a big heartache to us till the day we die”; and a Tennessee child who rationalizes his belief by admitting that “if there's no God, that's all there is, ashes.” The Spiritual Life of Children is “a remarkable book. The generosity of vision that characterizes Dr. Coles's enterprise enables him to create a climate where words of great beauty and truthfulness can be spoken.” —The New York Times

A call to advance integrative teaching and learning in higher education. From Parker Palmer, best-selling author of The Courage to Teach, and Arthur Zajonc, professor of physics at Amherst College and director of the academic program of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, comes this call to revisit the roots and reclaim the vision of higher education. The Heart of Higher Education proposes an approach to teaching and learning that honors the whole human being—mind, heart, and spirit—an essential integration if we hope to address the complex issues of our time. The book offers a rich interplay of analysis, theory, and proposals for action from two educators and writers who have contributed to developing the field of integrative education over the past few decades. Presents Parker Palmer’s powerful response to critics of holistic learning and Arthur Zajonc’s elucidation of the relationship between science, the humanities, and the contemplative traditions Explores ways to take steps toward making colleges and universities places that awaken the deepest potential in students, faculty, and staff Offers a practical approach to fostering renewal in higher education through collegiality and conversation The Heart of Higher Education is for all who are new to the field of holistic education, all who want to deepen their understanding of its challenges, and all who want to practice and promote this vital approach to teaching and learning on their campuses.