Bird Droppings August 7, 2025

A spiritual side to teaching can have an impact

A Rainy Morning in Georgia may be a song title. We had gone almost twenty days with little or no rain, and many areas were in drought conditions, and a hundred miles east were recovering from floods caused by the last tropical storm. After an exceptionally wet summer, the drought hit some farmers hard at the start of their growing season. I had been watering our flowers and plants outside until a few days ago when the rain came again. Seven inches in our area in four days; they asked to get wet.

When asked why they teach, many teachers say it is a calling. I feel this points to a spiritual side to teaching, at least for some. Spirituality does not entail religion; it is something that comes from the heart. A good friend reminded me yesterday that we should be teaching from the heart, not from superficial data generated by a test or program that implies all children are the same.

“Solitude does not necessarily mean living apart from others; rather, it’s never living apart from one’s self. Not about absence of other people – it is about being fully present to ourselves, whether or not we are with others.” Parker Palmer

Dr. Parker Palmer is an innovator, speaker, retreat leader, author, and traveling teacher. He is a senior associate of the Association for the Advancement of Higher Education and a senior advisor to the Fetzer Institute. Parker Palmer received his Ph.D. from the University of California. I was first introduced to his writing in 2001 by a friend who was my principal at the time. He recommended his book, The Courage to Teach, and since then I have given away several copies.

“Teachers choose their vocation for reasons of the heart because they care deeply about their students and their subject. However, the demands of teaching cause too many educators to lose heart. Is it possible to take heart in teaching once more so that we can continue to do what teachers always do – give heart to our students.” Parker Palmer, The Courage to Teach

I have been in education for over fifty years, have been back in direct teaching for twenty-five years plus, and have watched teachers burn out, and others fizzle out. There is a slight bit of difference between burn and fizzle. Someone who burns out is putting themselves all into what they do, and someone who fizzles out is taking up space and probably should not have been there to begin with. I have watched creative teachers, starting gangbusters, succumb to the teaching blues and boredom due to standardization and a forced curriculum. They come in full of zeal and, within a semester, are borrowing premade transparencies from their next-door neighbor because they no longer have time to create new ones.

“Bad teachers distance themselves from the subject they are teaching – and, in the process, from their students. Good teachers join self and subject and students in the fabric of life.” Parker Palmer

For many years, I have considered teaching an art form. I think it is a place where a person’s soul is bared for better or worse, as you teach whatever subject you happen to be teaching. If you genuinely want to connect with your students, you open your heart, as Palmer indicates, which is difficult for many to do. I honestly think it takes a particular person to be a good and effective teacher. Parker Palmer, in his writing, discusses how teaching is a community effort. My thoughts reflect John Dewey and his revelations of education as a social event and, more critically, a necessity.

“As I make the case that good teaching is always and essentially communal, I am not abandoning my claim that teaching cannot be reduced to technique. Community, or connectedness, is the principle behind good teaching, but different teachers with different gifts create community in surprisingly diverse ways, using widely divergent methods.” Parker Palmer

In my life journeys, I use a word whose plural connotation I use to discuss my journeys, since I have been in several directions before reaching where I am now. I have found that it is in happiness and solace that we find peace with ourselves. The quote I started with today reflects solitude: a few moments each day in a spot I have selected, away from the house, with a view across a large pasture. I can sit and reflect on my day or my day ahead, and I ponder sitting and listening to the sounds around me. I claim this spot as sacred, and some will scoff at the idea that it lacks a church or any religious affiliation. I titled my writing today “the spiritual side of teaching,” and these two words intertwine as I look at them and ponder them further.

“Sacred means, quite simply, worthy of respect.” Parker Palmer

In the years that I have been back in teaching, it has been about respect and trust. I have approached this by building relationships with students; in my opinion, that is one of the most critical aspects of the teaching process. It is not simply a curriculum and a book or several books; it is relationships. I see what I do each day as a spiritual endeavor, bringing new ideas to students who may not have had the chance previously to understand or even experience this in any way. It had been nearly thirteen years since I wrote a trust scale for a human development course I was taking. It follows a similar concept to the one I read about in Dr. James Fowler’s book, The Development of Faith. We start totally trusting, soon learn not to trust, and eventually return to total trust. It takes good and great teachers to help along the way. I was thinking about the new week ahead, a few days left this week, and the positive and negative that will come my way. I tend to embrace the positive and spend less time considering the negative. I hope each of you can take a moment to reflect, and please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and in your hearts, and always give thanks. Namaste.

My friends, I do not say this lightly,

Mitakuye Oyasin

(We are all related)

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