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BOOK REVIEW

© 2009

annette Collins, MD, MED

he author of this book, Parkeralmer, holds a PhD in sociology fromhe University of California at Berke-ey. He is a writer and traveling teacherho works independently on issues in

ducation, community, spirituality,nd social change. In 1998, the Lead-rship Project, a survey of 11,000 edu-ators, named Palmer as one of the 30most influential senior leaders” inigher education and one of 10 keyagenda-setters” of the past decade.he Accreditation Council for Gradu-

te Medical Education, the accreditingody for radiology and other specialtyesidency programs, has honored Dr.almer by creating the Parker J. Palmerourage to Teach Award. This presti-ious award is given to residency pro-ram directors who have demonstratedcommitment to education.This is not a “how-to-teach” book.

t is not a textbook referencing sciencend spewing facts about teaching tech-iques. Rather, it is a book filled withducated opinion, based on self-reflec-ion by a man who has made a career ofeaching. It is a philosophical essay onhe forces that drive us to want to teachnd the basic tenets of what constitutesood teaching.

The book has seven chapters, whichiscuss identity and integrity in teach-

ng; the influence of fear in teaching;he paradox of teaching and learning;nowing, teaching, and learning inommunity; and teaching from theeart of hope. In the first chapter,almer relates students’ opinions onood and bad teachers. One studentaid that “she could not describe herood teachers because they differed soreatly.” But she could describe her badeachers because “they were all theame: Their words float somewhere inront of their faces, like the balloonpeech in cartoons.” In Palmer’s words,

The Courage to Teach: ExLandscape of a Teacher’sParker J. Palmer, Published by Jos

Bad teachers distance themselves from m

004 American College of Radiology1-2182/04/$30.00 ● DOI 10.1016/j.jacr.2003.12.002

he subject they are teaching—and inhe process, from their students. Goodeachers join self and subject and stu-ents in the fabric of life.”The influence of fear in teaching is

erhaps best understood in Palmer’stories about his personal teaching fail-res. As he puts it, “When a class thatas gone badly comes to a mercifulnd, I am fearful long after it is over—earful that I am not just a bad teacherut a bad person, so closely is my sensef self tied to the work I do.” An examples the following anecdote from the book:

here were thirty students in that class-oom. It is possible that twenty-nine ofhem were ready to learn, but I will nevernow. For in the back row, in the far cor-er, slouched the specter called the Studentrom Hell. Though he sat in one of thoseadistic classroom chairs with a rigidly at-ached desk, he had a achieved a positionhat I know to be anatomically impossible:espite the interposed desk, his body wasarallel to the floor.

For a “long and anguished hour,”almer aimed everything he had at thetudent, trying desperately to awakenim from his dogmatic slumbers, but thearder he tried, the more the studenteemed to recede. Palmer left the classith a powerful combination of self-pity,

raudulence, and rage. He felt that he hadut on a stunningly inept demonstrationf teaching. He was desperate to get outf town. When the college van arrived toake him to the airport, he was floodedith relief. He went out to the driveway,

ossed his bags into the back seat of thean, climbed into the front seat, andurned to greet the driver. It was the “Stu-ent from Hell.”

Palmer claims that there are no for-ulas for good teaching, and the ad-

ice of experts has but marginal utility.oreover, current systems of evaluat-

ng teachers often consist of nothing

oring the Innerife-Bass/1998/$24.95

ore than giving students a standardized d

uestionnaire that reduces the evaluationo 10 or 15 dimensions, measured on ave-point scale. The nuances of teach-

ng cannot possibly be captured thisay, and according to Palmer,

here is only one honest way to evaluatehe many varieties of good teaching: it isalled being there. We must observe eachther teach, at least occasionally, and weust spend more time talking to each other

bout teaching. Then, when the timeomes for promotion and tenure decisions,e will have real information to work with,

ather than the statistical fictions withhich we now manipulate decisions.

Although we teach in front of stu-ents, we almost always teach solo, outf collegial sight. In faculty workshops,almer asks participants to fill in thelank: “When I am teaching at myest, I am like a. . . .” I particularly likealmer’s personal metaphor. When he

s teaching at his best, he is like a sheep-og. A sheepdog has four functions. Itaintains a space where the sheep can

raze and feed themselves; it holds theheep together in that space, constantlyringing back strays; it protects theoundaries of the space to keep danger-us predators out; and when the graz-ng ground is depleted, it moves withhe sheep to another space where theyan get the food they need. This comesack to the book’s common theme: toeach is to create a space in which theommunity of truth is practiced.

The last chapter, titled “Divided Noore: Teaching from a Heart ofope” is a discussion of educational

eform and the social movement thatight revitalize education. This dis-

ussion moved me. My deep passionor education had me reading Palmer’sords and imaging a system in whichedical education is regarded as highly

s and the level of expectations foreaching are equal to or higher thanhose for clinical performance andedical research, where there exists a

ritical mass of scholarly medical edu-ators ensuring that complacency willot rule the practice of teaching, andhere resources for the educationalission are bountiful because it is seen

s the lifeblood of our future. Palmer

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226 Book Review

orm and understanding of the naturef “movements” by comparing teach-rs he has met to Rosa Parks. Theseeachers

ove education too much to let it sink to itsowest form. They remember the passionshat led them to become academics. Theyffirm their deep caring for the lives of stu-

ents, and they do not want to disconnectrom the young. They understand the iden-ity and integrity that they have invested ineaching, and they want to reinvest, even ift pays no institutional interest or divi-ends. These teachers have decided thateaching is a front-of-the-bus thing forhem, even though their institutions want itoved to the back.

I recommend this book to anyoneho wants to understand educationn a deeper level, renew his or herassion for teaching, or become a stu-ent of educational reform. It willot be useful for those who want aquick fix” to correct personal teach-ng deficiencies.

annette Collins, MD, MEd, Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, E3/311 Clinical Science Center, 600ighland Avenue, Madison, WI 53792-3252; e-mail: jcollin4@wisc.edu.