The third sector represents a vast and heterogeneous universe that has a key role in society from both the social and civil points of view. It also represents an informal learning context where competence and knowledge are acquired, often in a tacit and indirect way. This research focuses on the key competences of the third sector professionals…

Teaching philosophy statements articulate educators' beliefs about what makes learning happen. They can be powerful tools in identifying assumptions about teaching, articulating our values as educators, and connecting to a community within and across disciplines. Teaching philosophy statements are often an integral part of job applications,…

This paper provides a review of the practices and tensions informing approaches to professional development for early career academic geographers who are teaching in higher education. We offer examples from Britain, Canada, Nigeria and the USA. The tensions include: institutional and departmental cultures; models that offer generic and…

Several constraints influence the formation of a professional identity by full-time distance education faculty at the University of the Philippines. One of these is the marginalisation of distance education (DE) in the academy as a consequence of DE's identification with low status disciplines, as well as with developments in higher education that…

This article explores the importance of giving academics the space to be creative in developing new teaching materials in the context of a government drive to increase the quality of the student experience, and what this means for "academic staff development". Academics who have engaged with a UK Centre for Excellence in Teaching and…

Two conferences, Seaside I and Seaside II, were held to develop a professional support system to assist in improving the health education profession in Oregon. Due to the success of the first two conferences, two more were held in which conceptual models in nutrition, fitness, sexuality, and weight control were presented. (JN)

Writing is a threefold discipline that occupies a supreme place in American education, and without which there can be no other learning. Writing is not only a body of knowledge; it is also a set of acquired habits, and a frame of mind and attitude with which a writing task is approached. Writing may be defined in three ways, as (1) a discipline;…

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) was established in 1987 to develop and operate a system of advanced certification; including a set of high and rigorous standards of accomplished teaching and an assessment system designed to measure these standards. Utilizing a qualitative, case study framework, this research project…

Compares two high school chemistry teachers with two elementary science teachers from case studies from the Exemplary Practice in Science and Mathematics Education Project in Australia. Concludes that both pedagogical and content knowledge are important ingredients for outstanding teaching. (CW)

Teachers are the "lone rangers" of education. They are sequestered in their classrooms, unable to see what their colleagues are doing. All too often, good teachers have few, if any, opportunities to share their teaching techniques with others in their profession. Based on the development of the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and…