International Perspectives on Teaching Excellence in Higher Education Improving Knowledge and Practice

There has been an explosion of interest in teaching excellence in higher education. Once labelled the ?poor relation? of the research/teaching divide, teaching is now firmly on the policy agenda; pressure on institutions to improve the quality of teaching has never been greater and significant funding seeks to promote teaching excellence in higher education institutions.

This book constitutes the first serious scrutiny of how and why it should be achieved. International perspectives from educational researchers, award winning teachers, practitioners and educational developers consider key topics, including:

• policy initiatives
• research-led teaching
• teaching excellence and scholarship
• the significance of academic disciplines
• research into teaching excellence
• rewarding through promotion
• inclusive learning and ICT.

Teaching Excellence in Higher Education provides a guide for all those supporting, promoting and trying to achieve teaching excellence in higher education and sets the scene for teaching excellence as a field for serious investigation and critical enquiry.

Introduction Part 1: Conceptual challenges 1. Excellence and the Good Society 2. Braided practice: the place of scholarly inquiry in teaching excellence 3. Beyond performance in teaching excellence 4. Teaching, discipline, net-work 5. Integrating research and teaching: understanding excellence Part 2: Policy and discourse 6. The demotic turn - excellence by fiat 7. Policy discourses about teaching excellence in a transforming South Africa 8. Critiquing excellence: undergraduate research for all students? 9. Tertiary teaching matters: political economy of a New Zealand centre for tertiary teaching excellence 10. Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in England: recognising, celebrating and promoting excellence? Part 3: Development initiatives 11. National strategies for promoting excellence in teaching: a critical review 12. Teaching excellence in higher education in Japan: an evolving agenda 13. Teaching excellence in context: drawing from a socio-cultural approach 14. The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme 2000-2006: Rest In Peace? 15. Exploring teaching excellence in Canada: an interrogation of common practices and policies 16. Exploring and developing excellence: towards a community of praxis Conclusion

Alan Skelton is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, University of Sheffield, UK. He undertakes critical research investigations into higher education pedagogy and is the author of Understanding Teaching Excellence in Higher Education, published by Routledge in 2005.