Courage to Teach® (CTT) is a program of retreats for the personal and professional renewal of P-12 teachers. Courage to Teach retreats focus neither on ‘technique’ nor on school reform, but on renewing the inner lives of educators.

Each CTT group consists of twenty to thirty educators who gather for a two or three-day retreat. Ideally this will be done as a series of quarterly retreats over a one or two-year period, but it may also be offered as an Introductory Retreat. In large-group, small-group, and solitary settings, the concepts of teacher formation and ‘the heart of a teacher’ are explored, making use of personal stories, reflections on classroom practice, and insights from poets, artists, storytellers, and various wisdom traditions. Each retreat follows a theme, using rich metaphors such as the seasons as a way of exploring vocational and life questions.

The principle at the heart of this approach is that caring, competent, and energized teachers are the indispensable ingredient in school success, and that honouring them and renewing their passion strengthens every effort to improve teaching, learning, and the human connectedness essential to education.

CTT was developed by Parker J. Palmer, Ph. D. and the Fetzer Institute in Michigan, USA in 1994. Courage to Teach Facilitators are usuallyprepared in USA by the Center for Courage & Renewal, however, in 2011 12 facilitators were trained from around Australia – in Australia. It is two of these facilitators-in-training – Nerida Murray and Lisa Albion, along with Janet Smith (the first facilitator to offer CTT retreats in Australia) who are facilitating the first Courage to Teach Retreat in Brisbane in 2013. Since 1997, a network of over 190 facilitators have provided retreats for over 25,000 people in USA and Canada.


An independent evaluation recently revealed that 100% of participants rated the CTT series of retreats as the most valuable professional development they have experienced; 100% said that it altered and improved their classroom practice; 90% said they had developed the habit of reflective practice (shown by research to improve quality of teaching and lead to higher student achievement); 68% said their experience led them to initiate more collegial relationships at their school (shown by research to be related to teacher satisfaction); and 100% believed that teacher formation could lead to enduring and vital improvement in education. Some quotes from teachers who have participated in CTT retreats are shown in the box.

Some Quotes from Parker J. Palmer about Teachers and Teaching

·  Good teaching takes myriad forms but good teachers share one trait: they are authentically present in the classroom, deeply connected with their students and their subject. These connections are held in the teacher’s heart – the place where intellect, emotion and spirit emerge in the human self. Good teachers weave a life-giving web between themselves, their subjects, and their students, helping their students learn how to weave a world for themselves.

·  Good teachers possess a capacity for connectedness. They are able to weave a complex web of connections among themselves, their subjects, and their students so that students can learn to weave a world for themselves.

·  Good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher.

·  Many of us became teachers for reasons of the heart, animated by a passion for some subject and for helping people learn. But many of us lose heart as the years of teaching go by. How can we take heart in teaching once more so that we can, as good teachers always do, give heart to our students?


REGISTRATION FORM

INTRODUCTORY COURAGE TO TEACH® RETREAT

FACILITATORS

Nerida Murray B.Ed.,Dip.T., has worked for the last 35 years in both country and city schools for Education Queensland. For 28 of those years she has been a Head of Department, mainly in the area of English. She has a passion for teachers and a deep respect for them in the challenges they face each day.

Lisa AlbionM.A.,B.Ed., Dip.T.has over 25 years of experience working in the field of early childhood primary and higher education. She has experience working cross-culturally in schools, training teachers, developing curriculum and implementing education projects, in the Pacific, SE Asia, the Balkans, Canada and Australia. She is committed to creating safe and nurturing learning spaces whereby children and adults are able to listen to their own wisdom.

YOUR PERSONAL DETAILS (please post or email this form to Nerida Murray at address below)

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PAYMENT

Registration deadline is 31st August 2014 -

There are 2 methods of Payment

Either

·  A cheque made payable to Nerida Murray and sent to the address below

or

·  Payment into NAB account – Mr DM & Mrs NR MURRAY

BSB 084-150/Account number 179741895

For further information please contact:

Nerida MurrayOR Lisa Albion
29 Redwood Street Stafford Heights 4053 Qld Australia 11 Tanderra Drive Cooran 4569

Ph: +61 (0)7 33595058 + 61 (0)411052292 Ph:+ 61 (0)490346151

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