I read this book at least once a year to remind myself that teaching is a difficult profession, that you will never reach every single student, and that good teaching requires a strong sense of self and great courage. A “must read” for any teacher.

This is a powerful book about the heart of teaching. There's a lot of philosophical conversations, but they are interspersed with examples from both Palmer's classroom and real-world situations. It was my second time through, and I will likely read it again in the future. :)

11/5/17: Third time! I'm glad I'm reading it with others...because the conversation is so helpful!

Excellent. Final chapter, "Divided No More," on social movements model & educational reform also excellent, and worth re-visiting sometime in the near future.

Good read not only for educators/teachers, but also for students, reformers, activists, contemplatives, or anybody w/ aspirations in any of those categories.

AMAZING. Palmer is an incredible writer who really draws out the feelings and thoughts of life we're all experiencing without so many words. This book helped me to realize more about myself and career goals than any other book in my Masters program (and it wasn't even a teaching program).

reading for a class i am taking...

Although Palmer's shorter volume "To Know as We Are Known" remains my favorite by him, I found reassurance and encouragement in this pastoral, perspicacious text. Palmer's tone reminds me of Henri Nouwen's, but his field of expertise and priesthood has its roots in the academy and the classroom. Well-worth the read for those heeding the vocation of teaching and learning.

I’d say this book is a must-read for educators and for anyone who leads a group of people toward common truth. Palmer provides insight to topics not heavily discussed: the overall well-being of teachers and the heart behind why we enter the profession. Parts of it are a bit dense, but I found myself unable to put it down. I anticipate I’ll come back to this book many, many times.

Each and every word written in this book deeply resonated with me. I feel tremendous gratitude for the care and sense of responsibility conveyed in Parker’s claim that only when from those who have the courage to teach from the most truthful places of their inner landscape, will students find the courage to discover and explore and inhabit those places of living in their own lives.

“If we want to support each other’s inner lives, we must remember a simple truth: the human soul does not want to be fixed, it simply wants to be seen and heard. If we want to see and hear a person’s soul, there is another truth we must remember: the soul is like a wild animal – tough, resilient, and yet shy. When we go crashing through the woods, shouting for it to come out so we can help it, the soul will stay in hiding. But if we are willing to sit quietly and wait for a while, the soul may show itself.”

*reaction for most of the book*: internally screaming

I was excited to read this because it was from an internal caring aspect; then I realized it was educational philosophy—granted it was one I shared—but from the secular academic perspective rather than my own Christian faith. As a Christian academic, I do not understand why others go out of their way to make the “fix it” point not about Jesus. The points that are attempting to come out as deep and revelatory just end up flat and contrived and saying what they’re trying NOT to say in the first place.

This was a helpful read because it showed me there are teachers who desire this book’s philosophy and educational outcome, even if it’s secular in nature. While I don’t agree with making education about the Self, I agree that subjectivity is needed, in life as well as education. Life itself is messy, so why not handle it appropriately through teaching subjects, dealing with the messiness of history, literature, science?