This volume wholeheartedly engages with the current climate in higher education and provides not only a thorough analysis of the foundational elements constituting higher education but also a critical discussion of possible connections to societal and cultural domains and policy debates. Today, higher education institutions and programs are beset with multiple, and often conflicting, pressures and demands. Higher education is regarded by societies in general, and at the political level in particular, as a pathway to securing continued economic growth and ensuring cultural growth in surrounding societal contexts. Future academics are expected to become experts within their disciplines and at the same time to acquire and develop generic competences and transferable skills directly translatable into job market and professional contexts. These conflicting and fragmented policy approaches to higher education leaves academic leaders, teacher, researchers, and students with an incoherent curriculum and a confused and eroded academic identity and societal outlook. Much literature within higher education research that engages with similar topics are dominated by a backwards-looking and heavy critique of current political and educational conditions for the university and higher education. This volume suggests a new tack that is defined by openness and optimism towards possibilities for a transformative higher education curriculum – that at the same time stays firmly rooted within the foundational academic soil. By drawing on, and contributing to, the emerging research field the philosophy and theory of higher education, the book combines critique with a constructive and future-oriented approach and outlook on higher education. Further, it combines and links philosophical discussions on the idea of the future university with societal responsibility and a curricular and formational awareness.

This book written by international experts in the field of educational innovation is a guide for universities to become world-class universities. It contributes to the current international intellectual debate on the future of higher education. It also tells the story of King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and its effort to become a world-class university. The book discusses excellence in different aspects such as education, research, community services, strategic planning, knowledge economy and international cooperation.

This book is for health professionals who are becoming involved in the education of people entering their professions. It introduces many of the challenges that educators must engage with in the twenty-first century; challenges that will preoccupy our attention for many years to come. The world of professional practice in healthcare is changing and the education we provide to prepare people for that practice is also changing. How do we prepare professional practitioners for this changing world? How do we prepare them for the changes that are yet to come? What challenges and changes do they need to be aware of? How do we prepare educators – both academics and workplace educators for these challenges? This volume opens up and articulates the issues we face in preparing people to enter the contemporary world of healthcare. Experienced educators should also find much of interest in these pages. Practice-based education provides an overarching framework for consideration of the issues involved. There are five sections in the book: - Section 1: Introduction - Section 2: Health Professional Education in Context - Section 3: Teaching and Research - Section 4: Case Studies - Section 5: Future Directions

This practical resource helps aspiring leaders demystify the challenges associated with becoming a community college president. Building on existing scholarship and research related to historical origins of the community college, this book explores the role and function of the presidency, discusses existing demographics and the importance of meeting the needs of a diverse student population, and unpacks the required competencies and leadership challenges related to becoming a community college president. Including real voices from award-winning and current presidents as well as a step-by-step approach to attaining the position, this is an important resource that speaks to the needs of today and tomorrows’ community college leaders.

"Becoming Great Universities highlights ten core challenges that all colleges and universities face and offers practical steps that everyone on campus--from presidents to first-year undergraduates--can take to enhance student life and learning."--

Boost student success by reversing your perspective on college readiness The national conversation asking "Are students college-ready?" concentrates on numerous factors that are beyond higher education's control. Becoming a Student-Ready College flips the college readiness conversation to provide a new perspective on creating institutional value and facilitating student success. Instead of focusing on student preparedness for college (or lack thereof), this book asks the more pragmatic question of what are colleges and universities doing to prepare for the students who are entering their institutions? What must change in an institution's policies, practices, and culture in order to be student-ready? Clear and concise, this book is packed with insightful discussion and practical strategies for achieving your ambitious student success goals. These ideas for redesigning practices and policies provide more than food for thought—they offer a real-world framework for real institutional change. You'll learn: How educators can acknowledge their own biases and assumptions about underserved students in order to allow for change New ways to advance student learning and success How to develop and value student assets and social capital Strategies and approaches for creating a new student-focused culture of leadership at every level To truly become student-ready, educators must make difficult decisions, face the pressures of accountability, and address their preconceived notions about student success head-on. Becoming a Student-Ready College provides a reality check based on today's higher education environment.

"This innovative and readable book is not something to be cherry-picked for quick hints and tips. It is a work to be read and re-read and savoured for its humanity, sagacity, practicality and reflection upon the all-important relationships between teaching and learning and the teacher and the learner." British Journal of Educational Technology "...a delightful and unusual reflective journey...the whole book is driven by a cycle of questions, examples, strategies and generalizations from the examples. In all, it is the clearest example of practise-what-you-preach that I have seen." John Biggs, Honorary Professor of Psychology, University of Hong Kong “This is a unique book, written by a well-known figure in HE who has broad experience and a long track record as an exemplary and caring teacher…The book is unique because it is written in a very personal manner, with a sharing of the author’s varied experiences and great enthusiasm for the processes of teaching and communication.” Jenny Moon, Bournemouth Media Centre and Independent Consultant “[Cowan’s] innovative approach to the authorship of a well researched and practical book is worthy of particular mention…Practitioners that are keen to allow spaces for innovative approaches to professional development in learners will find this text readable and thought provoking.” Teaching in Higher Education On Becoming an Innovative University Teacher shows readers how to plan and run innovative activities to engage their students in effective reflective learning. The book uses an unusual and accessible method: each chapter begins by posing a question with which university and college teachers can be expected to identify; then answers the question by presenting a series of examples, thereafter the writer frankly airs his own second thoughts on what he has offered. In the second edition of this popular book, Cowan maintains his relaxed and readable style, and the book features revised coverage to make it even more accessible and useful. The examples have been updated throughout and a new chapter looks at innovation and reflection in the context of contemporary higher education. This is key reading for all university teachers, whether new or experienced, who want to revitalise their teaching.

Becoming an URBAN PLANNER Are you considering a career in urban planning? Becoming an Urban Planner is the best place to start. Through in-depth interviews with more than eighty urban planners across the United States and Canada, this book gives you a valuable insider’s look at your future profession as it is lived and practiced. Becoming an Urban Planner introduces you to the urban planning profession—its history, what you must know to prepare for a career in planning, and the different types of planning jobs. Beyond the basics, though, it shows you the realities of what it’s really like to be a planner today. You’ll learn about: The skills you’ll need and how to hone them in school and on the job Potential career paths and what people in these positions do Using internships, job shadowing, and other opportunities to break into the field Deciding among planning specialties and moving between public and private sectors How to search for and get your first position Emerging areas in planning, including sustainability and climate change Each topic is explored through in-depth interviews with both generalists and others who have devoted their careers to a particular aspect of planning. These professionals share their insights and describe how they have arrived at where they are and how beginners like you can learn from their experiences. With the information from this book to guide and inspire you, you will be able to chart your own path to success as an urban planner.

It's time to discover a new way for individuals to lead organizations and societies. Trust in a variety of institutions, including governmental and business, is at an all-time low. In order to strengthen society from its foundations, we need to rebuild trust. Research shows that leaders are critical to building trust in organizations, and that trust in leadership is significantly related to a number of attitudes, behaviors and performance outcomes. This new book, with its emphasis on the critical role of leadership in trust-building as well as the novel perspective on the trust circle of leadership, will be of interest to all students and researchers studying leadership, management and organizational behavior.

This book is about individuals who have made dramatic changes in their lives. In the beginning, these people were living as patients or victims of circumstance. In the end, they were living as agents, free to shape the courses of their lives, to choose, set goals, plan--to make things happen, rather than to experience life as events happening to them. The authors describe what is involved in such remarkable transformations. They identify a common structure of transformation involving four distinguishable phases. They also clarify a progressive dialectic between living the plot of a patient and living the plot of an agent, and show how an old plot is destroyed or deconstructed and a new plot is constructed.