Parker J. Palmer, Ph.D., the writer, teacher and activist whose ideas resonate with people in many walks of life, including education, medicine, religion, business, philanthropy and social change, will offer three plenary addresses and two workshops at the National Association of Episcopal Schools’ Biennial Conference 2008 next year, November 6-8, in Tampa, Florida.
Dr. Palmer’s addresses will take place during the plenary breakfast and luncheon on Friday, November 7, 2008, and at a closing session on Saturday, November 8, 2008. His workshops, one for teachers on Friday and the other for administrators on Saturday, will be limited to 60 participants each and require pre-registration.
Plenary Addresses on Friday and Saturday, November 7 and 8
Dr. Palmer will offer three plenary addresses during the conference.
Word Become Flesh: Teaching Who We Are
Plenary Breakfast, Friday, November 7, 8:00-9:15 a.m.
The Body of Christ: Teaching and Learning in Community
Plenary Luncheon, Friday, November 7, 12:15-1:30 p.m.
Leadership for Community: The Loaves and Fishes Revisited
Closing Plenary Session, Saturday, November 8, 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Please see the registration brochure for details about which rates include some or all of these gatherings.
Workshops on Friday and Saturday, November 7 and 8
In addition to his addresses, Dr. Palmer will ofer two workshops: one for teachers and one for school leaders. These will be limited to 60 participants each with no more than one registrant per school.
Good Talk About Good Teaching: Taking the Conversation Home
Workshop C11, Friday, November 7, 4:00-5:15 p.m.
This workshop is for teachers only.
Leadership & Governance Institute at Biennial:
Leading from Within—The Leader’s Inner Journey
Workshop D1, Saturday, November 8, 9:30-10:45 a.m.
This workshop is for school heads, administrators, trustees, rector and vestry members.
Full descriptions of these workshop may be found in the registration brochure upon its publication. In the meanwhile, here’s what you need to know in order to reserve your spot at one fo these workshops:
- If registering online, be sure to check the event at the appropriate step of the registration process to reserve your seat.
- If registering by mail or fax, be sure to check the appropriate box on Part 2 of the Registration Form to reserve your seat.
- Reservations will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.
- Each workshop will be limited to 60 participants each, with no more than one registrant per school.
- A wait list for each workshop, arranged by registration receipt date, will be kept.
- Schools registering more than one person for either of these workshops will be contacted to identify which person should be registered for the workshop. The remaining individuals will be added to the wait list.
- Final confirmations and tickets will be sent to confirmed participants in the final pre-conference mailing in October. Tickets are not transferable and may be used only by the registrant.
- If you are not able to use your ticket, you must notify the Association and return the ticket so that a member of the wait may be use it.
- Directions for wait-listed individuals concerning on-site seating will be included in the final pre-conference mailing in October and in the conference program booklet.
Book Signings
Conference participants will have multiple opportunities for Dr. Palmer to sign copies of his books during the course of the conference. Times and locations of these 30 minute events will be announced in the conference program booklet.
Preparing for Biennial Conference
If you are planning to attend Biennial Conference 2008, NAES urges you to prepare for it by using Dr. Palmer’s bestselling book The Courage to Teach as the basis of or part of your school’s faculty and staff development program over the coming year. Now available in a special tenth anniversary edition, the book includes an audio CD featuring a 80 minute conversation with the author and his colleagues from the Center for Courage & Renewal about the practical use of the book’s content in workshops.
About Parker J. Palmer
Dr. Palmer, founder and senior partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal, is engaged in practical responses to social problems, such as "reclaiming integrity and courage in professional and public life." The Center for Courage & Renewal, which offers personal and professional renewal programs for educators, physicians, politicians, clergy and others, is now at work in 30 states and 50 cities. Over the past decade, the Center has helped 25,000 people "rejoin soul and role."
Dr. Parker’s commitment to renewing the spirit of teachers has inspired the Parker J. Palmer "Courage to Teach Award" given each year by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Named one of the thirty most influential senior leaders in higher education, and one of the ten major "agenda-setters" of the past decade, Dr. Palmer’s work has been recognized with ten honorary doctorates and two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the National Educational Press Association. He is the recipient of major grants from the Danforth Foundation, the Lilly Endowment and the Fetzer Institute.
Dr. Palmer’s widely praised books include A Hidden Wholeness, Let Your Life Speak, The Active Life, The Company of Strangers, The Promise of Paradox, and To Know as We Are Known. He has been featured in the New York Times, NPR, CBS-TV and the Chronicle of Higher Education.
A member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker), Dr. Palmer lives in Madison, Wisconsin.