Courage to Teach is a nationally recognized model for supporting the professional development and renewal of service-oriented professionals: K-12 teachers, K-12 leaders, clergy-lay leaders, doctors, lawyers, community activists, and foundations leaders.  The following items are representative of the types of experiences I lead based on Courage to Teach practices and principles.  More information on Courage to Teach can be acquired at http://www.couragerenewal.org/

Courage Touch Stones

Courage retreats are bounded by a closely monitored set of norms that encourage open and honest sharing of wisdom from a person's inner teacher, leader, or guide.

"Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros

A typical Courage retreat is organized around a particular theme.  For instance, the theme of birth right gifts or original calling invites participants to remember the original intention calling them into a profession.  For many participants it is helpful to reflect back into a person's childhood when we are often more in direct contact with our gifts and unique ways of understanding self in the world.  I find that Sandra Cisneros short story called "Eleven" from her book "The House on Mango Street" provides a ready access point for remembering and sharing around inner gifts.  The attached file offers a brief window into how I might use this poem on a retreat.

Math Science Partnership

I developed this power point for Eagle County Schools as part of a Math and Science Partnership grant.  This power point is designed to offer teacher leaders a broad overview of Professional Learning Commnities that go beyond technical fixes to professional development to a more robust vision of a Professonal Learning Community that targets the inner transformation of the teacher's identity.  It is an example of the ways that Courage practices and principles can be extracted from a retreat setting and modified to work within the day-to-day complexities of school and classroom reform.

When I think of an image that captures the full depth and complexity of professional identity I picutre an iceberg.  Abover the water line are outer core elements of teaching such as: technique, lesson planning, classroom management, assessment, etc.  These are the "on-stage" features of effective instruction and are typically assessed through a standardized protocol of rubric and standard elements of instruction.  Below the water line are the inner core elements of effective instruction including: calling, authenticity, presence, wholeheatedness, and imagination.  Teacher qualities in this domain of instruction have an ineffable quality to them and require a more open frame of assessment that address more of a descriptive developmental range. 

common core and inner core

This paper "Common Core and Inner Core" provides a more detailed descrption and analysis of the ways that the two dimensions of teaching can be blended into an integrated whole.