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As Parker Palmer says in the introduction to the 10th Anniversary Edition, "This book is for teachers who have good days and bad - and whose bad days bring the suffering that comes only from something one loves. It is for teachers who refuse to harden their hearts, because they love learners, learning, and the teaching life." This book builds on a simple premise: good teaching cannot be reduced to technique but is rooted in the identity and integrity of the teacher. Good teaching takes myriad forms but good teachers share one trait: they are authentically present in the classroom, in community with their students and their subject. The connections made by good teachers are held not in their methods but in their hearts - the place where intellect, emotion, spirit, and will converge in the human self - supported by the community that emerges among us when we choose to live authentic lives.