CATCA 2023

Many of us became teachers for reasons of the heart. Inspired by passion for our subjects and helping people learn, but as the years go by, many of us lose heart. How can we regain the heart that inspired us from the beginning and in turn give heart to our students? Courage to Teach® provides educators with an opportunity for rest, renewal and re-engagement with their identity and integrity as teachers. This program offers educators a rare opportunity to step back and reflect on the role of the heart and soul in teaching, and gain insight and solidarity in a talking circle with other educators. Just as we experience nature’s cycle of renewal through the seasons, so we experience natural cycles of engagement and withdrawal, love and loss, creativity and despair in our personal lives and work. When we take time to slow down, quiet ourselves and reflect, to renew ourselves, and recall our commitments, important changes can happen within us and around us. As we are renewed, we in turn can contribute to the renewal of our professions, workplaces, communities. The Circles of Trust® approach uses poetry, evocative images, and a facilitated talking circle format to create space for rest and reflection and to foster a sense of hope and wholeness in the midst of the despair and broken heartedness experienced by so many in our world today. Circles of Trust® retreats help us to live more purposeful lives, do more courageous and meaningful work, and bring greater love and wholeness into our schools and classrooms.

This retreat series is grounded in the Circles of Trust® approach as described in Parker Palmer’s book, A Hidden Wholeness. For further information on the Circles of Trust® approach see: https://couragerenewal.org/courage-renewal-approach/

This is not a typical lecture style session, and will be facilitated primarily in a talking circle format. Participation in the talking circle is always by invitation, and never by demand, however please be aware that this experience is centered on opportunities to engage in personal reflection both alone through journaling and contemplation, as well as through sharing with others in pairs and the larger group.