Programs & Retreats for Life & Work
There is in us an instinct for newness, for renewal, for a liberation of creative power. We seek to awaken in ourselves a force that changes our lives from within. And the same instinct tells us that this change is a recovery of that which is deepest, most original, most personal in ourselves. – Thomas Merton
Courage & Renewal programs are designed to sustain you in your life and work, to build your capacity for resilience, to help develop clarity and discernment around your life direction and choices, and to renew your commitment to living an authentic life. At any stage in your life and career, these programs help you “connect who you are with what you do”.
All programs offered are grounded in the Circle of Trust® approach which was created by Parker J. Palmer and the Center for Courage & Renewal. A Circle of Trust is distinguished by principles and practices designed to create a process of shared exploration, where people can find safe space to nurture personal and professional integrity and the courage to act on it. In the hands of a knowledgeable and skilled facilitator, this approach has the power to transform individuals, families, workplaces and communities.
Signature programs are:
All programs offered are grounded in the Circle of Trust® approach which was created by Parker J. Palmer and the Center for Courage & Renewal. A Circle of Trust is distinguished by principles and practices designed to create a process of shared exploration, where people can find safe space to nurture personal and professional integrity and the courage to act on it. In the hands of a knowledgeable and skilled facilitator, this approach has the power to transform individuals, families, workplaces and communities.
Signature programs are:
The Courage Way®: Leading & Living with Integrity
|
To be nobody-but-yourself
- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle that any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. - e.e. cummings |
This series of five one-day retreats is based on the book written by Shelly L. Francis and the Center for Courage & Renewal. The retreats are based on the transformative components of courageous and authentic leadership, and encapsulate the principles and practices of the Courage & Renewal approach. The retreats can be offered individually, or as a series.
1. The Courage Way®: How to live & lead with integrity
It takes courage to show up in your life and work as your authentic self, to keep your values in sight regardless of the pressures around you, and to lead a meaningful life of integrity. This is what Parker Palmer calls living an undivided life. What would you do with more courage?
2. The Courage Way®: How to create trustworthy space
Courage requires trust - in ourselves and each other, and trust in the overall balance of life. At the heart of trust is our own self-awareness and emotional intelligence. Trust is one of the keys to well-being. In this retreat we delve into the Circle of Trust principles and practices that help create and sustain trustworthy space.
3. The Courage Way®: How to listen deeply & question well
"When we learn how to listen more deeply to others, we can listen more deeply to ourselves." - Parker J. Palmer
Mindful listening lays the foundation for authentic leadership and building trustworthy relationships. To listen deeply to another is one of the greatest gifts we can give them. And deeper listening comes from asking deeper questions. In this retreat we develop our capacity to ask honest, open questions, and to listen deeply to one another.
4. The Courage Way®: How to embrace paradox & transform conflict
This retreat explores the idea of paradoxical truth and holding the tension of opposites. When we grow our capacity to hold complexity and uncertainty, while remaining open to possibility, we are better able to negotiate and find creative solutions to life's complex and challenging situations.
5. The Courage Way®: Reflective practice in community
Reflective practice helps us develop our self-awareness and feeds our capacity for personal and professional growth. True reflective practice is more than taking time to think about process, learnings and data. It includes paying attention to our inner lives - our goals and dreams, our fears, our intuition and our imagination - and is enriched by the mirroring of trustworthy companions who help us see ourselves more clearly.
The Courage Way®: Growing a school culture of trust, collaboration & integrity
“Good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher.” - Parker J. Palmer
This program of personal and shared reflective practice, designed for groups of 10 – 20 teacher participants, comprises a series of 3 x one-day retreats – one per term spread over three terms.
Based on the work of Parker J. Palmer, author of The Courage to Teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life, this program is designed to strengthen personal and collegial well-being and resilience, and to help grow high-trust, collaborative school cultures.
Retreat One: We Teach Who We Are
Retreat Two: The Courageous Teacher
Retreat Three: Embracing Paradox & Complexity
Over the course of this three-term program, participants cover the following themes:
1. Wholeness & integrity:
Growing self-awareness, recognising personal strengths and limits, reconnecting with one’s values and to the things that give meaning to one’s life.
2. Trust & trustworthy space
Trust is one of the keys to well-being. At its heart is one’s own self-awareness and emotional intelligence. We will delve into Circle of Trust principles and practices that help grow and sustain trustworthy relationships.
3. Exploring paradox & transforming conflict
When we grow our capacity to hold the tension of complexity and uncertainty, while remaining open to possibility, we are better able to navigate and find creative solutions to life's complex and challenging situations.
4. Reflective practice in community
True reflective practice includes paying attention to both our inner and collegial lives - our goals and dreams, our fears, our intuition and imagination, as well as our practices and experiences. Reflective practice is enriched by the mirroring of trustworthy companions who help us see ourselves more clearly. This is a hallmark of the Courage & Renewal approach.
5. Mindful listening & asking deeper questions
Participants will develop their capacity for mindful listening and asking deeper questions, both practices that are vital for authentic leadership and trustworthy relationships.
The principles and practices experienced by the teachers can also be applied in their classroom and collegial settings to help develop high-trust and collaborative cultures.
While the program does not explicitly set out to change classroom practice, the personal development of teacher participants is likely to improve their classroom practice in significant ways, and it is likely that students will tangibly benefit from these changes.
Outcomes
Participants will learn practices that help:
Rationale:
Good teachers come to the profession inspired by a passion to help others learn, drawn to education by an ethic of service and a mission to make a positive difference in young peoples’ lives and the wider world. Maintaining the passion for their work, while navigating heavy workloads and the many, complex demands they face daily, requires courage, resilience, and high levels of emotional intelligence.
In high-trust school cultures, teachers experience a deeper sense of connection and shared purpose, they collaborate more and compete less, they appreciate diversity and support one another more – all known antidotes for burnout and exhaustion, which are now at alarming levels in the education sector.
Research clearly links the importance of a high-trust school culture with higher student achievement. “Trust is the connective tissue that holds improving schools together.”(Bryk & Schneider, 2002).
Based on the work of Parker J. Palmer, author of The Courage to Teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life, this program is designed to strengthen personal and collegial well-being and resilience, and to help grow high-trust, collaborative school cultures.
Retreat One: We Teach Who We Are
Retreat Two: The Courageous Teacher
Retreat Three: Embracing Paradox & Complexity
Over the course of this three-term program, participants cover the following themes:
1. Wholeness & integrity:
Growing self-awareness, recognising personal strengths and limits, reconnecting with one’s values and to the things that give meaning to one’s life.
2. Trust & trustworthy space
Trust is one of the keys to well-being. At its heart is one’s own self-awareness and emotional intelligence. We will delve into Circle of Trust principles and practices that help grow and sustain trustworthy relationships.
3. Exploring paradox & transforming conflict
When we grow our capacity to hold the tension of complexity and uncertainty, while remaining open to possibility, we are better able to navigate and find creative solutions to life's complex and challenging situations.
4. Reflective practice in community
True reflective practice includes paying attention to both our inner and collegial lives - our goals and dreams, our fears, our intuition and imagination, as well as our practices and experiences. Reflective practice is enriched by the mirroring of trustworthy companions who help us see ourselves more clearly. This is a hallmark of the Courage & Renewal approach.
5. Mindful listening & asking deeper questions
Participants will develop their capacity for mindful listening and asking deeper questions, both practices that are vital for authentic leadership and trustworthy relationships.
The principles and practices experienced by the teachers can also be applied in their classroom and collegial settings to help develop high-trust and collaborative cultures.
While the program does not explicitly set out to change classroom practice, the personal development of teacher participants is likely to improve their classroom practice in significant ways, and it is likely that students will tangibly benefit from these changes.
Outcomes
Participants will learn practices that help:
- Grow their self-awareness, resilience and well-being
- Renew their professional energy, engagement and clarity of purpose
- Improve connection and communication with students, colleagues and the wider school community
- Deepen mindful listening and generative questioning skills
- Deepen reflective practice and mindfulness practices
- Navigate the complexities and tensions of their roles and seek creative solutions
- Develop the courage to take on new challenges and/or leadership roles
Rationale:
Good teachers come to the profession inspired by a passion to help others learn, drawn to education by an ethic of service and a mission to make a positive difference in young peoples’ lives and the wider world. Maintaining the passion for their work, while navigating heavy workloads and the many, complex demands they face daily, requires courage, resilience, and high levels of emotional intelligence.
In high-trust school cultures, teachers experience a deeper sense of connection and shared purpose, they collaborate more and compete less, they appreciate diversity and support one another more – all known antidotes for burnout and exhaustion, which are now at alarming levels in the education sector.
Research clearly links the importance of a high-trust school culture with higher student achievement. “Trust is the connective tissue that holds improving schools together.”(Bryk & Schneider, 2002).
Courage to Lead®
"True leadership comes not from the sound of a commanding voice but from the nudging of an inner voice ...." - Madeleine K. Albright
For individuals from all walks of life who care deeply about their work in the world, to help them develop the courage to live and lead with integrity. At the heart of authentic leadership is the courage to be fully human, to take risks, to care deeply, and to take action even in the midst of change and uncertainty.
Check out the Event Calendar for the date of the next Courage to Lead.
Check out the Event Calendar for the date of the next Courage to Lead.
Other programs offered to the Education sector include:
The Heart of the Teacher
A one-day workshop introducing educators to approaches for personal and professional renewal and to practical applications that bring reflection and mindfulness into classrooms and support the building of relational trust in the adult school community.
Professional Development Collaborations
For whole school faculties, to renew school cultures, improve professional relationships and communication, to grow and challenge existing and aspiring leaders, and develop a shared school vision. Courage & Renewal programs do not follow a set curriculum. They are individually designed for specific audiences and their purposes. I create programmes that are tailored to the needs of your particular situation.
Sampler Sessions
Custom-designed workshop sessions, that offer a brief introduction to Circle of Trust reflective practice, can be provided as part of a wider professional development or conference program.
Other Circle of Trust® Programs and Retreats
From time to time other programs for personal development and renewal will be offered.
Check out the Event Calendar for dates.
Check out the Event Calendar for dates.