ABSTRACT
Despite being surrounded by hundreds of students, often all at the one time, teaching can be a very isolated experience. Traditionally, academics were appointed as researchers who would also do a little teaching on the side in their own specialism, and would have prepared and delivered their lectures with little thought of discussion with other colleagues. That situation has long gone. Working with others has become a cornerstone of academic life and colleagues, peers and students have become increasingly important to our teaching practice in terms of collaborative work, evaluation, feedback and development. We now work in a teaching and learning environment that is increasingly focused on team effort, interdisciplinary working, subject-related networks and sharing of practice. Some of these groupings appear to come ‘ready-made’ while others have to be created and supported through networking and the development of peer groups and contacts. All of them have to be nurtured and maintained.
