ABSTRACT
This book starts from the premise that the roles of those who teach in higher education are complex and multifaceted. Teaching is recognised as being only one of the roles that readers of this book will be undertaking. It recognises and acknowledges that academics have contractual obligations to pursue excellence in several directions, most notably in teaching, research and scholarship, supervision, academic administration and management and, for many, maintenance of standing and provision of service in a profession (such as teaching or nursing). Academic practice is a term that encompasses all these facets.
