Book excerpt: Practical in approach, this text focuses on how both pre-service and experienced teachers can demonstrate the attributes, acquire the competencies, and meet the standards essential to effective teaching. The framework for the text is the Teacher Competency Profile. Chapter by chapter, the essential knowledge and skills for effective teaching are presented. Each chapter contains recent research and best practice information with respect to the theme discussed. This is followed within each chapter with guidelines for teaching, practical approaches to information, extensive examples, cases, and activities. The sequential framework guides the pre-service student s professional development from basic teaching approaches to sophisticated strategies, methods, and skills. By identifying the essential competencies of teaching and providing guidelines for meeting professional standards, this text is also of value for use in seminars, workshops, and professional reading by practicing teachers."