ABSTRACT
In this chapter I critically examine the relationship between teaching excellence and subject disciplines. I begin by looking at some of the arguments that support the growing assumption that teaching excellence can only be understood and supported within a disciplinary framework. I then go back in time to consider the emergence of interdisciplinary study in the 1970s, what this implied for teaching excellence and what happened to some of the new theme-based subjects that were introduced during this period. In the light of this discussion, I consider recent work on new understandings of disciplinarity which seeks to address some of the criticisms that have been made of the established academic curriculum. This work suggests that disciplines need to be reflective and that teaching excellence needs to be both located within the deep structures of disciplines yet prepared to question these structures and consider alternatives. In the final section I consider how this might be achieved through a process of critique. The chapter seeks to address some crucial questions about the relationship between teaching excellence and subject disciplines. For example, is the subject necessary for any understanding and practice of teaching excellence? What arguments support such a view? Are there any alternatives to a subject-based understanding of teaching excellence? And what are the constraints that make such alternatives difficult to realize in practice?
