Who may apply?

  1. •We welcome pre-K through 12 educators:  classroom teachers, administrators, counselors, psychologists, social workers, and other educational support staff.

  2. •Cohorts of up to 24 educators are formed with diversity—of age, experience in education, gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation—a key consideration.

“The question we most commonly ask is the “what” question—what subjects shall we teach?


When the conversation goes a bit deeper, we ask the “how” question—what methods and techniques are required to teach well?


Occasionally, when it goes deeper still, we ask the “why” question—for what purpose and to what ends do we teach?


But seldom, if ever, do we ask the “who” question—who is the self that teaches?  How does the quality of my selfhood form—or deform—the way I relate to my students, my subject, my colleagues, my world?  How can educational institutions sustain and deepen the selfhood from which good teaching comes?”


--Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach

What is Madison/Dane County Courage to Teach?

  1. •A unique professional development and renewal experience for educators based on the work of renowned educator and author Parker J. Palmer.

  2. •A year-long series of four weekend retreats (Friday evening through Sunday afternoons), beginning in November of each year

  3. •Facilitators are prepared by the national Center for Courage and Renewal

  4. •Participation is by individual choice and includes an application process

  5. •An offering that enjoys strong financial support from the community, with Edgewood College serving as fiscal agent.