Author Description

Most academics receive little formal training to teach yet many become excellent and inspiring university teachers. This book uncovers some of the experiences and personal motivations of eight academics who themselves became highly successful university teachers. Through their stories of significant people and key events in their lives the academics explore some of the elements that have helped shape them as teachers, beginning with their earliest experiences of learning and ending with reflections on their work as teachers in a university. Woven through the personal narratives is discussion of elements such as the relationship between identity and pedagogy, the development of personal theories of teaching and learning, the role of reflexivity in professional learning, and the impact of institutional expectations on possibilities for practice. The narratives are engaging and accessible. Teachers everywhere will find inspiration in the stories of these academics, who in their different ways have enriched the lives of students and colleagues through their work as teachers.