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The Lin-Wood School District Courage to Teach Journey
The Lin-Wood School District began its journey for creating a new model of school governance in 2007 with a two-year series of retreats based on the principles and practices of Courage to Teach®. The focus was to develop a new emphasis on individual teacher responsibility for each student’s learning in an effort to change the culture within the school district.
Courage to Teach is always invitational. There is never a directive demanding participation. Courage to Teach is a facilitated retreat program in which cohorts of educators gather for a two year series of seasonal retreats to reflect on their lives and work and the meaning their work has for them and those whose lives they touch. In large and small group dialogues and in journaling and personal reflection using poetry, reflective practices and writings from a variety of wisdom traditions, facilitators lead participants in the creation of safe spaces for inner work which will impact their work in the world.
Our NH Courage & Renewal team met with the entire Lin-Wood faculty to explain the Courage to Teach process and the desire of the New Hampshire Humanities Council to partner with them as they entered into a two year commitment which could result in transformation for them as individuals and for their district as a community. We gifted them with Parker Palmer’s book, The Courage to Teach, and asked that those who were interested in committing to this process sign up with one of the teachers who volunteered to be the contact person.
The Lin-Wood teachers who participated in our Courage to Teach sessions come from a variety of disciplines and taught high school students, middle school students and kindergarten students. There were novice teachers (up to five years of experience), mid-career teachers and veteran teachers, close to retiring.
While the first year of the retreat process will focus on personal and professional renewal of each individual participating, the focus for the second year of Courage to Teach at Lin-Wood will be based on Parker Palmer’s ideas concerning the movement model of social change and the essential elements necessary for the creation of collegial communities as delineated in his book, The Courage to Teach.
Three Elements Essential to Creating Collegial Communities
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Introducing topics of conversation that move beyond technique
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Establishing ground rules for deep conversation
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Institutional arrangements that promote “good talk about good teaching.”
Four Stages of Social Change
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Deep commitment to live “divided no more”
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The development of communities of congruence
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Going public with values and commitments
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Fostering the emergence of a system of external and internal rewards to sustain the movement’s vision and to put pressure for change on the standard institutional reward system.
NH Courage & Renewal looks forward to the journey over the next two years with the Lin-Wood teachers and staff who are enrolled in our Courage to Teach program.
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The Lin-Wood II
Session Schedule
A Few Photos of our first weekend at the Snowy Owl
November 20 and 21, 2009 ✓
January 14, 2010 ✓
April 9 and 10, 2010
May 21, 2010
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Our Lin-Wood II sessions will be held at the Snowy Owl Inn and Resort in Waterville Valley.
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©Jean Haley, 2005-present
Professional Renewal Resources, LLC
all rights reserved
Site designed and maintained by Chalkdust
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