The Academic Sabbatical - (Education) by Timothy Sibbald & Victoria Handford (Paperback)

About the Book

Taking an in-depth look at faculty experiences, this work reveals the importance of sabbaticals in the unique development of academics by exploring the productive options they offer. A great follow-up to The Academic Gateway and Beyond the Academic Gateway, this book can also be read independently.

Book Synopsis

The Academic Sabbatical: A Voyage of Discovery is a collection of narratives that reveals how important sabbaticals are to faculty and, by extension, to higher education. This in-depth look at the diverse experiences and perspectives provides a wealth of evidence that sabbaticals are instrumental in increasing productivity in terms of research and knowledge dissemination.

These periods of self-directed and focused work enable scholars to restore their academic energies, leading to enhanced engagement with their programs, graduate students, and intellectual exchange among peers. Although not without challenges and tensions, sabbaticals help academics build stronger and deeper connections.

While this book stands alone in promoting the richness and potential of the sabbatical as a structural feature of the academy, it is a great follow-up to The Academic Gateway and Beyond the Academic Gateway, which respectively discuss the tenure-track and tenure experience.

This book is the third in the Lives in the Canadian Academic Landscape triptych.

Review Quotes

The Academic Sabbatical: A Voyage of Discovery offers a wide-ranging series of firsthand experiences with the academic sabbatical. The book will be of interest to any reader who wants to think more about that topic--early career scholars looking forward to their first sabbatical, administrators tasked with approving faculty sabbaticals, or senior academics preparing for what may be their last sabbatical and reflecting on what it all means. Overall, the book represents an opportunity to reflect on what academic work could be, and that is always an opportunity worth seizing.--Adrian Downey, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, Mount Saint-Vincent University "Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l'éducation"

About the Author

Lee Anne Block (Contributor)
Lee Anne Block is a teacher educator at the University of Winnipeg. Her research and teaching are focused on how we name and engage with difference in educational locations and on cultural sustainability. She recently completed Gandhi, Globalization and Earth Democracy, a course on sustainability with Vandana Shiva, in residence at Navdanya, India. For twenty years, she was a classroom teacher in Winnipeg.

Victoria Handford (Contributor, Editor)
Victoria (Tory) Handford is a professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at Thompson Rivers University and is currently the chair of the School of Education. Prior to moving to TRU, Tory held multiple posi-tions in JK-12 education as a teacher, vice-principal, and principal. She has been an education officer (Leadership) for the Ontario Ministry of Education and program officer (Standards of Practice and Accreditation) for the Ontario College of Teachers. Her recent publications include a three-book series that addresses experiences of faculty in Canadian uni-versities. Tory has also published multiple articles and chapters addressing components of school and district leadership.

Timothy Sibbald (Contributor, Editor)
Timothy Sibbald is Associate Professor in the Schulich School of Education at Nipissing University. His primary focus is on mathematics education. He is also Editor of The Gazette, a publication for teachers produced by the Ontario Association of Mathematics Educators.

Cecile Badenhorst (Contributor)
Cecile Badenhorst is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education in the Adult/Post-Secondary programs at Memorial University. She teaches courses on academic literacies and adult teaching. She has published three books in this area: Research Writing (2007), Dissertation Writing (2008), and Productive Writing (2010).