If I had to devise an alternative title for this book it would be Beyond Technique. This is because, for Palmer, the secret to good teaching has very little to do with adopting the right method or technique and everything to do with identity and integrity.
Good teachers join self and subject and students in the fabric of life.
The following quotes from Palmer's work communicate the various aspects of his message and also provide food for thoughtful reflection. We no longer need to use techniques to mask the subjective self, as the culture of professionalism encourages us to do. Now we can use technique to manifest more fully the gift of self from which are best teaching comes. If we regard truth as something handed down from authorities on high, the classroom will look like a dictatorship. If we regard truth as a fiction determined by personal whim, the classroom will look like anarchy.