Retreat aims to help build educators ‘Courage to Be’

Sr Margaret Henderson has been a stalwart of Catholic education in Tasmania. She works in the Catholic Identity and Evangelisation team at Catholic Education Tasmania, and through her wisdom and experience she works with three Courage To Be Facilitators who develop retreats for CET educators known as ‘Courage to Be’. Each retreat is designed to renew participants through transformation rather than through structural change to their teaching or processes.

After initial participation in two similar week long retreats and follow up training with 16 representatives from other Australian Catholic Education Offices, an Australian based retreat named ‘Courage To Be’ was developed. The retreats are based on the work of Parker Palmer who wrote several books centred around the premise of ‘the Courage to Teach’. He, like many teachers worldwide, was insecure about his ability to teach at the beginning of his teaching career, and wondered how he could help give teachers courage to overcome these fears in the classroom. Sr Margaret aims to follow on from his great work to help provide the educators of Tasmania with their own courage to teach, and uses Parker Palmer’s techniques to help provide them with an ability to remember why they have chosen the rewarding vocation of teaching.

In what was the first live-in ‘Courage to Be’ Retreat since 2019, 12 educators from across the state went to Launceston to help renew their faith in teaching and be reminded of how important the role of being a teacher can be. Participants were invited to speak honestly about their lives, to reflect, and to listen and respond, contributing to the development within their group as part of a ‘Circle of Trust’. There is a shared understanding between participants that they must listen and respond to each other with encouragement and compassion, which makes the retreat a welcoming environment.

Educators at the 'Courage to Be' retreat

One of the aims of the retreat is for educators to remain more present and be more focused on what is happening in their classroom or what is happening in their life. Parker Palmer writes that teachers need to reflect and listen to what their lives are telling them throughout the busy teaching year that takes place. “Teachers will invariably say, I need to focus more on my capacity to listen to myself, my body, my mind, my inner teacher.” Said Sr Margaret, “But I also need to focus on listening to my family, or my class. If only I could slow down and listen more.” This is one of the key elements of the retreat; to listen.

This year’s retreat was held in Launceston at the Emmanuel Conference and Retreat Centre and required all participants to be in attendance for two days. The program involved periods of time for reflection and journaling with guided questions related to a story, or article related to the theme. Each ‘Courage to Be’ Retreat is based on a theme connected to a Season of the Year. The stories, art, songs and articles are termed ‘third things’ and they become metaphors with their own wisdom. This gives time for journaling and follow up opportunities for sharing in the group. This was where attendees had the opportunity to share their thoughts in a safe environment without fear of judgement or that it would leave the ‘Circle of Trust’. Sr Margaret and fellow facilitators Tricia Phillips, Simone McManus and Kylie Sullivan prepared the ‘third things’ and led in turn the respective sessions. 

When asked about how this year’s retreat went, Sr Margaret noted the way that the group shared with confidence and were able to create a sense of belonging through listening and in silence. “The retreat went very well, all 12 participants seemed very happy. The participants said, it is through the stillness that we connect with God. Silence is necessary, and there was a good balance of group and alone time.”

If you missed out on being a part of the ‘Courage to Be’ Retreat, and want to be part of the next one, there will be a one-day retreat following the same theme on Friday September 15 at the Josephite Mission and History Centre in New Town.

Please contact Sr Margaret Henderson for further details: margaret.henderson@catholic.tas.edu.au