Reflections On Life In Higher Education

This book explores the challenges of an academic teaching career. The authors discuss the issues that may arise in the tenure process, scholarship activities, publishing, and providing service to their academic communities as well as how to keep teaching lessons relevant and fresh.

This collection of speeches and essays, written between 1998 and 2001, addresses major issues relating to higher education and the leadership and administration of its institutions. The role of (and need for) education in the United States, the challenges facing university administrators, cultural i

How does social media affect working life in Higher Education? How are universities harnessing its power to aid student learning? This innovative collection brings together academics and those working in professional services to examine these questions and more. The diverse and expert contributors analyse the many ways social media can be used to enhance teaching and learning, research, professional practice, leadership, networking and career development. The impact of social media is evaluated critically, with an eye both to the benefits and the problems of using these new forms of digital communication. This is the first volume to give such detailed attention to this area of high interest. Its innovative approach extends to its creation, with contributors found via their presence on Twitter. The short and impactful chapters are accessible while retaining an academic focus through their application of relevant learning theories and educational context. Social Media and Higher Education is essential reading for any professional working in higher education, including lecturers teaching education courses. It is also significant for researchers looking at more recent developments in the field and what it means to work in a modern higher education environment.

In university teachers'' hectic lives, finding space to reflect, restore, renew, and recommit can seem impossible. Jean Koh Peters and Mark Weisberg believe regular reflection is critical and have designed A Teacher''s Reflection Book to help teachers and other professionals find that space. Growing out of the authors'' extensive experience facilitating retreats and leading teaching and learning workshops, the book builds on their discoveries in those settings, supporting and promoting teachers'' self-directed development. Inviting that development, A Teacher''s Reflection Book is a cornucopia of stories, exercises, and examples that will inspire teachers to make reflection a cornerstone of their daily lives. With its multiple suggestions and strategies, it offers something for every reader, and is responsive to teachers'' needs at all stages of their careers. The book''s six chapters offer readers several perspectives from which to reflect. Some sections offer glimpses of teachers in the midst of their daily teaching lives, while others step away, inviting readers to reflect on what it means to have a vocation as a teacher. The book explores how we listen, a crucial yet rarely taught skill, essential for reflecting, as well as for learning and teaching. And it invites teachers to reflect on their students: who they are, and what and how they learn. For those latter reflections, the authors turn the focus on fear, which so pervades university life and which can distort learners'' and teachers'' perspectives and responses. Throughout this book, readers will visit several classrooms and listen to the evocative voices of several thoughtful students. Revelatory, practical, and wise, A Teacher''s Reflection Book is a valuable companion and guide. "One key strength of the book is its authentic writing style, which engages the reader and builds the trustworthiness of the authors. Another strength is the book''s wealth of readings and the activities it offers to catalyze teacher reflection." -- Teaching Theology and Religion, Ryan S. Gardner "This excellent book should be part of every teacher''s professional library. It is a book pitched at all teachers in higher education and, through the processes of reflection, a book that advances important principles of good teaching practice that are usually introduced all too briefly in the basic texts on teaching in higher education. ...Several descriptive words come to mind when reading this book. It is a polite and gentle book. Politeness is revealed in the book''s sub-title - ''Exercises, stories, invitations''. It is the idea of invitation that characterizes much of the book. It is not didactic but rather invites us to use the book and the processes described in it in ways that work best for us. It does this through questions and inductive approaches to reflection. Through these approaches and the careful use of real-life examples, we are gently invited to explore the perspectives presented in the text and apply these to our personal and professional lives. It is also an accessible book. Most refreshingly, it is not burdened with unnecessary technical jargon and convoluted language that sadly cripples too much writing in education today and makes learning inaccessible to many, particularly for those readers whose first language is not English." -- Higher Education Research & Development (HERDSA), Robert Cannon "I was asked to write a book review but I find that, instead, I want to write a thank you note thanking Jean Koh Peters and Mark Weisberg for the gift of their book, A Teacher''s Reflection Book. ...The reflections, examples and exercises you offer in the book make reflecting about both challenging and positive moments in my life as a teacher feel like something I can do easily and regularly. ...In this book, you have found a way to model, encourage and help create a compassionate space where teachers can make the deepest connection between who they are and what they do. You give us permission to find our truth in and the courage to bring our hearts to our teaching and writing. You have made a home for reflection." -- The Law Teacher, Kimberly Kirkland, University of New Hampshire School of Law "We are all so busy. We race from task to task. We attempt to multi-task; dividing and depleting our energies. How many times do we arrive in class breathless with hardly a moment to think about what we have planned for the day? I harbor no illusions that a blog entry is going to change our lives, but I would like to use this one to reiterate the need to make time for reflection, for contemplation about what we do, and how and why we do it. The value of doing so is laid out clearly in [this] new book..." -- Teaching Professor Blog, Maryellen Weimer

This book brings together reflections from seventy academics – everyone from doctoral students to a retired provost – who share their lived experiences in graduate school and beyond. Career seekers, adjunct professors, those in or considering graduate school, and tenure-track professors alike will find truths revealed through these shared experiences of struggle, triumph, loss and hope.

This book of 136 short essays distills some of the most lucid writings of well-known, emeritus law professor, Shad Saleem Faruqi, who was from 2008–2012 attached to USM as a Visiting Professor. From mundane topics like “Tips for Interviewees” to such contentious and sensitive issues as ethnic relations, Islam and the Constitution, and electoral democracy, the book gives us a simple, warm and sympathetic commentary on some of the burning issues of our times. There are simple but searching essays on good governance, local government, law reform, universities and the law, and legal education. The reflections of the East and the perceptions of the West on human rights are discussed eloquently. The international law on war and peace is viewed in the context of our troubled world. Difficult issues are made simple and simple issues are made rich. All essays are guided by reason and driven by passion. The work is animated by a spirit of moderation, compassion and erudition.

Drawing on more than three decades of experience as a scholar, teacher, and administrator, Gary A. Olson, a keen observer of higher education and a monthly columnist for the "Chronicle of Higher Education," explores the intricacies of life in academe. These meditations, which appeared as columns in the "Chronicle" over a six-year span, explore a rich tapestry of subjects from the craft of academic administration to how institutions are reforming their operations. Also included are topics germane to faculty and their work, such as how to network within your discipline, how to report faculty accomplishments accurately, how to navigate the tenure and promotion system, and how to create a culture of recognition and reward for faculty, staff, and students. Many academics become preoccupied with the intricacies of their own disciplines and are not always cognizant of how other parts of their institutions work. Most go through their careers with an incomplete (and in some cases completely wrong) understanding of many aspects of academic life. Olson s essays shed light on the complex workings of our academic institutions and provide answers to important questions about the modern university: What are the limits of academic freedom? Exactly what is shared governance? Why are many universities reorganizing their academic units? What are successful ways to recruit first-rate faculty and staff? Witty, incisive, and entertaining, this book is for anyone interested in academic life and a must read for new professors and new administrators."