Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring and Honest
Review: "The Courage to Teach" should be read again and again. It invokes new insights into your teaching career every time at various points in your life. The concepts are inspiring, and the conclusions honest.If I have any complaints, it's that at times in the book, the language became a bit thick and abstract, losing the reader in extensive passages that might need to be reread several times to fully understand. For example, a sentence from page 105 reads: "In rejecting the objectivist model, I have not embraced a relativism that reduces truth to whatever the community decides, for the community of truth includes a transcendent dimension of truth-knowing and truth-telling that takes us beyond relativism and absolutism alike." To be fair, this quote is taken out of context, and I know that the book is not meant to be read like a pleasure novel... it's much deeper and more though-provoking than that. It's a real gem when Palmer describes examples of his points from classroom experiences, but I found myself choking on the pages of abstract language separating these examples. It took me longer than expected to finish. Despite my minor misgivings, I highly recommend the book... especially to teachers. It'll be a permanent fixture on my bookshelf for years.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring and Honest
Review: "The Courage to Teach" should be read again and again. It invokes new insights into your teaching career every time at various points in your life. The concepts are inspiring, and the conclusions honest. If I have any complaints, it's that at times in the book, the language became a bit thick and abstract, losing the reader in extensive passages that might need to be reread several times to fully understand. For example, a sentence from page 105 reads: "In rejecting the objectivist model, I have not embraced a relativism that reduces truth to whatever the community decides, for the community of truth includes a transcendent dimension of truth-knowing and truth-telling that takes us beyond relativism and absolutism alike." To be fair, this quote is taken out of context, and I know that the book is not meant to be read like a pleasure novel... it's much deeper and more though-provoking than that. It's a real gem when Palmer describes examples of his points from classroom experiences, but I found myself choking on the pages of abstract language separating these examples. It took me longer than expected to finish. Despite my minor misgivings, I highly recommend the book... especially to teachers. It'll be a permanent fixture on my bookshelf for years.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring and Honest
Review: "The Courage to Teach" should be read again and again. It invokes new insights into your teaching career every time at various points in your life. The concepts are inspiring, and the conclusions honest. If I have any complaints, it's that at times in the book, the language became a bit thick and abstract, losing the reader in extensive passages that might need to be reread several times to fully understand. For example, a sentence from page 105 reads: "In rejecting the objectivist model, I have not embraced a relativism that reduces truth to whatever the community decides, for the community of truth includes a transcendent dimension of truth-knowing and truth-telling that takes us beyond relativism and absolutism alike." To be fair, this quote is taken out of context, and I know that the book is not meant to be read like a pleasure novel... it's much deeper and more though-provoking than that. It's a real gem when Palmer describes examples of his points from classroom experiences, but I found myself choking on the pages of abstract language separating these examples. It took me longer than expected to finish. Despite my minor misgivings, I highly recommend the book... especially to teachers. It'll be a permanent fixture on my bookshelf for years.
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated
Review: Attempting to establish the thesis that "good teaching comes from good people," Palmer overstates his case by downplaying the importance of expertise and technique. For example, he claims that teachers' knowledge of their subjects is "always flawed and partial" and that a command of content "always eludes [their] grasp." His overuse of the word soul makes it sound like only a "good person" can be a good teacher. This seems to be a shaky (or even simplistic) assumption on which to base a book. Ironically, the most effective parts of the book are those in which he discusses techniques for improving teaching, especially the focus on "critical moments" and "subject-centered classrooms." I agree with his points on "the grace of great things," though the pious tone is bothersome, especially when he refers to teaching as "life-giving communion with the young." The second half of the book is much better than the first half, but it still is a tough read for anyone with a postmodernist sensibility.
Rating:
Summary: Soul Searching
Review: I am a college student majoring in education and chose to read this book for an assignment. I found Dr. Palmer's writing style a bit challenging on the first read through. However, it did provide some soul-searching questions and thought provoking suggestions for growing students and growing ourselves as teachers. I especially appreciated Dr. Palmer's open and honest approach of sharing some of his own challenges and how he grew through them. I found the Six Paradoxical Tensions in Chapter 3 to be helpful for practical application in the classroom and learning space. The attention he gives to searching our own souls for identity and integrity are necessaary as we explore the "inner landscape" of our life as teachers.
Rating: 
Summary: Understanding the life dedicated to expressing true self.
Review: I am a college student majoring in education and I read this book for class. This book helped me understand the techniques of seeing the inner self through the education of the most intuitive, the children we teach. I realize that to educate is to continualy learn and expand the aspect of our humanity which matters the most, our inner self. To know the self and express this is the purpose of our education and our instruction. There are forces which disconnect us from the student, the subject and the self. It is the purpose of introspection to learn how to unblock these learned limits so they are not pass to the next level of learners. It is not only important that educators teach students about the self, but also how this knowledge translates to possitive growth in other lives. J. Plamer indicated we are not an Island unto ourselves but like vessels in which to carry life giving guidance to others. If we do not possess life giving knowledge we cannot express it to our students. This book was very important just as the book, "The Artists Way by Julia Cameron."
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful, but hard to read.
Review: I am a college student majoring in education. I read this book as part of an assignment. When I first started to read this book I didn't really get much out of it. I found it very hard to read. It is the type of book you have to have total peace and quit to read. Once I got into the book I was able to understand it a little better. I found quit a bit of good information. The book is especially good for high-school or college educators.
Rating:
Summary: The book was insightful, but the writing was overdone.
Review: I am a college student majoring in the field of education. I read The Courage To Teach to fulfill an assignment. I found Palmer's theories on teaching from the innerself to be honest and insightful. His ideas on educational reform strike true particularly in light of all the failed attempts at reform. I found the downside of the book to be Palmer's writing style. The complexity of his writing made the reading so tedious that it took away from what could have been an enjoyable and eye-opening discovery for teachers at any stage in their careers.
Rating:
Summary: This book was extremely hard to follow.
Review: I am an education major at Macon State College in Macon, GA and I found this book to be very hard to follow and extremely redundant. I had to read every paragraph at least twice to even half way understand what I was reading. I believe the book would be much better for an experienced teacher to read than a student. It was very insightful and had a few good ideas, but other than that, I was disappointed with the book as a whole.
Rating:
Summary: Good Reinforcement for BEginning Teachers
Review: I enjoyed Palmer's book "The Courage To Teach." I feel like the book really helped me explore my own inner landscape or the qualities that would make me a good teacher. Every educator should take time to do this because it is important to evaluate ourselfs. Self evaluations help us to grow fonder and stronger. I want to one day be a very confident educator! In some ways I believe Palmer's book helped me to build myb confidence.
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