Personal Reflection: What If...?

• Main Author: Sandra Bassendowski
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Georgia Southern University 2008-07-01
• Series: International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• Subjects: SoTL
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/ij-sotl/vol2/iss2/20

Excerpt: Parker Palmer (2003) describes an activity in the book Teaching where he asks people to introduce themselves by talking about a teacher who made a difference in their lives. He suggests that as the stories are told, the imprint of good teachers remains long after the facts that they have given us have faded. He goes on to say, “Then I ask the question that opens the deeper purpose…’What was it about you that allowed great mentoring to happen (Palmer, 2004, p. 14)?’” Palmer suggests that it is more than meeting the right teacher; the teacher must meet the right student. As I read Palmer’s chapter on “The Heart of a Teacher,” I began to consider his questions and to think about an educator who had made a significant difference in my life. His second question was more difficult- what was it about me that made the positive connection with this educator?