Abstract
The mission of the University is not only limited to the production of basic and applied scientific knowledge. Equally important is also its role as a laboratory of transmission of knowledge through high quality teaching methods, stimulating a culture of learning and supporting the development of integrated personalities with critical thinking abilities and academic ethos, along with a sense of social responsibility. Striving to fulfil this mission the University contributes to the social, cultural and productive development of the country, meliorating the quality and the living conditions of the citizens, making the knowledge and skills of university teachers relevant to the educational needs of the people. In this article endeavours a first reflection on the issue of University Pedagogy, a relatively new topic of scientific knowledge, relating to the Scholarship of Teaching and the “professional” training of the academic members at higher education institutions. The article also presents some University Centres for Teaching and Learning which provide teacher training to faculty staff. The status of the pedagogy of university teaching in Sweden, England and Cyprus are selected, as examples of concrete decisions and implementations, to be contrasted to the current situation in Greece’s higher education institutions. It is ascertained that while the Universities in developed countries for decades have identified the need for pedagogical and didactic training of their teaching staff, and proceeded to deal with it, in Greece the discussion has not even started. In the last part of the article the authors highlight the need for urgent
initiatives by the academy and the state and expose some thoughts and suggestions in order to trigger a fruitful dialogue that will soon lead to finding ways to improve the scholarship of teaching and learning in Higher Education in Greece and to ensure the continuing development of the pedagogic/didactic capacity of the academic community.
initiatives by the academy and the state and expose some thoughts and suggestions in order to trigger a fruitful dialogue that will soon lead to finding ways to improve the scholarship of teaching and learning in Higher Education in Greece and to ensure the continuing development of the pedagogic/didactic capacity of the academic community.
Full Text: 
University Pedagogy700.3 KB
University Pedagogy700.3 KB