A 'special' context?: Identifying the professional values associated with teaching in higher education

The paper draws on the philosophy of higher education and existing codes of professional values as a basis for analysing the distinctive ethical challenges of teaching in higher education. For those who teach in higher education there are many values that they share with colleagues in schools and colleges, including respect for learners, collegiality, scholarship and a commitment to reflective practice. Additionally, however, they face a number of ethical challenges that, to some extent, distinguish them from teachers in other settings. These include protecting the academic freedom of students stemming from the goal of promoting student criticality; ensuring respect for learners derived from the concept of adulthood and the principle of andragogy; and accommodating a series of ‘dual’ roles which define academic identity. While the character of these challenges may vary between countries, arguably they are of international concern in higher education forming a distinctive basis for the identification of universal, professional values. Copyright © 2004 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.