Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: The Reflective Professional

A new edition of this book is available

`The focus of the book is on the "professional", developed through an overall professional language and an insistence that academic freedom must be matched by academic responsibility. To the best of my knowledge, this makes it different from all other existing books on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, and it is for that reason that it must be read′ - Lewis Elton, Professor of Higher Education, University College London, British Joural Educational Technology

`For too long we have waited for a book that brings together the best contemporary thinking about learning and teaching and that connects with academics′ everyday teaching practice in an engaging way. At last, in this book, we have it′ - Ronald Barnett, Institute of Education, University of London

This book addresses the practice of learning and teaching within higher education. Higher education is currently a sector challenged worldwide by increased numbers and diversity of students, tougher demands for professional accountability, increasing calls for educational relevance, thinning resources and the exacting demands of a global education market.

This book brings together key issues of theory and practice to develop an overall professional `language′ of teaching situated within communities of academic practice. This `language′ provides teachers with a conceptual `vocabulary′ and` grammar′ for understanding and improving practice, enables them to critically reflect upon their teaching in a range of key `genres′ of practice and proposes a strategy for conducting and producing evidence for continuous professional development in learning and teaching. It provides a structure for developing teaching and learning strategies appropriate to the distinctive subjects and conditions of the individual university teacher and their academic community.

Learning & Teaching in Higher Education: The Reflective Professional is intended for lecturers, researchers, staff developers and others providing and/or supporting teaching in higher and professional education. The book covers a wide range of practical elements of teaching and learning in higher education curriculum. It draws upon theory, practice and current educational research to provide a distinctive way of thinking about and integrating the many aspects of learning and teaching in higher education into a comprehensive and coherent professional practice.