Teaching as Community Property : Essays on Higher Education (Jossey Bass Higher and Adult Education Series)

Rating:
Summary: Challenge to raise the bar for higher education instruction
Review: This collection of essays and speeches by Shulman presents a challenge to higher education to place greater emphasis on teaching. While professors at many colleges may be experts in their content area, many know little about the art of teaching. In some cases, teaching may even be seen as an interference with their primary goal of research.
Shulman's essays turn attention toward teaching with a careful consideration of the sensitivities of higher education faculty. His first unit focuses around learning as a process that can be understood and supported. He provides gentle arguments with practical suggestions while demonstrating that a focus on learning is a significant responsibity of the academic profession.
His second unit focuses on changing the role of teaching within the professorate. He argues that expert teaching exists and can be taught. Furthermore, creating a culture where teaching is taught in doctoral programs and is treated in a scholarly manner with peer review and dissemination would increase both the quality and prestige of teaching activities within higher ed.
The third unit offers practical suggestions for improving teaching and supporting teaching.
This book would be useful to a reading/ discussion group for faculty. The only criticism that I would offer of this book is a natural result of its format. As a collection of essays, transitions are sometimes not obvious and there is some overlap between chapters. Nevertheless, the collection is well-organized and surprisingly cohesive. As always, Shulman offers a gentle challenge.

Rating:
Summary: Challenge to raise the bar for higher education instruction
Review: This collection of essays and speeches by Shulman presents a challenge to higher education to place greater emphasis on teaching. While professors at many colleges may be experts in their content area, many know little about the art of teaching. In some cases, teaching may even be seen as an interference with their primary goal of research.
Shulman's essays turn attention toward teaching with a careful consideration of the sensitivities of higher education faculty. His first unit focuses around learning as a process that can be understood and supported. He provides gentle arguments with practical suggestions while demonstrating that a focus on learning is a significant responsibity of the academic profession.
His second unit focuses on changing the role of teaching within the professorate. He argues that expert teaching exists and can be taught. Furthermore, creating a culture where teaching is taught in doctoral programs and is treated in a scholarly manner with peer review and dissemination would increase both the quality and prestige of teaching activities within higher ed.
The third unit offers practical suggestions for improving teaching and supporting teaching.
This book would be useful to a reading/ discussion group for faculty. The only criticism that I would offer of this book is a natural result of its format. As a collection of essays, transitions are sometimes not obvious and there is some overlap between chapters. Nevertheless, the collection is well-organized and surprisingly cohesive. As always, Shulman offers a gentle challenge.