Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, Volume 21, Number 3

In his workshops with faculty, Parker J. Palmer has asked participants to focus on the "critical moments" that they have experienced in their teaching. Critical moments, as Palmer defines them, are those "when a learning opportunity will either open up or shut down for your students--depending, in part, on how you respond" (para. 22). By being asked to discuss openly the trials and triumphs they have experienced, faculty, as Palmer says, "do the one thing most necessary if we are to help each other grow as teachers: They speak honestly with each other about how challenging it is to teach and to learn" (para. 24). The upshot of such an exercise is the discovery, or affirmation, that there is no one correct way to handle our own critical teaching moments. The goal, rather, is to share and reflect with each other in order to help make our individual and collective teaching practice stronger.