Leading change from different shores: The challenges of contextualizing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.8.1.3

Keywords:

regional initiatives, SoTL, context, diversity, inclusivity, voices

Abstract

This article offers narratives of individual journeys through the scholarship of leading in three different contexts—Asia, Europe, and Africa. Together, these narratives argue for the need to make explicit the diversity of practices of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), with each practice inextricably tied to specific geographical, sociocultural, and political contexts. In offering these contextual specificities, we call on all who engage in SoTL to exercise reflexivity in thought, language, and action—to actively foreground our mental models and assumptions about SoTL and what it looks like for ourselves and for others; to sensitively engage scholars who do not share our context; and to strive toward an inclusive mindset and practice that will situate all of us within the “international” of an international organization. We highlight the problems of language, meaning, and translation; and the challenge scholars from “different shores” face in engaging with “other” shores. 

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Huang Hoon Chng, National University of Singapore

Chng Huang Hoon is Associate Professor of English Language and Literature, Associate Provost of Undergraduate Education, Director of the Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Centre, National University of Singapore (SGP). She serves as co-president Elect of the ISSOTL Board of Directors.

Katarina Mårtensson, Lund University

Katarina Mårtensson is Senior Lecturer and an Academic Developer, Division for Higher Education Development, Department of Educational Sciences, at Lund University (SWE). Former co-president of the ISSOTL Board of Directors (2016-2019), she is currently a co-editor of Teaching & Learning Inquiry.

References

Ashwin, P. & Trigwell, K. (2004). Investigating staff and educational development. In D. Baume & P. Kahn, P. (Eds.), Enhancing staff and educational development (pp. 117-132). London: RoutledgeFalmer.

Bass, R. (1999). The scholarship of teaching: What’s the problem? Inventio, 1(1). Retrieved from http://www.doiiit.gmu.edu/inventio/randybass.htm

Blair, E. (2014). Academic development through the contextualization of the scholarship of teaching and learning: Reflections drawn from the recent history of Trinidad and Tobago. International Journal for Academic Development, 19(4), 330-340. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2013.860032

Booth, S. & Woollacott, L. C. (2018). On the constitution of SoTL: Its domains and contexts. Higher Education, 75, 537–551. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-017-0156-7

Boshier, R. (2009). Why is the scholarship of teaching and learning such a hard sell? Higher Education Research & Development, 28(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360802444321

Boughey, C. (2010). Academic development for improved efficiency in the higher education and training system in South Africa. Development Bank of South Africa. Retrieved from https://www.dbsa.org/EN/About-Us/Publications/Documents/Academic%20development%20for%20improved%20efficiency%20in%20the%20higher%20education%20and%20training%20system%20in%20South%20Africa%20by%20Chrissie%20Boug.pdf

Boyer, E. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Princeton, NJ: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Chick, N. L. (2013). Difference, privilege, and power in SoTL: The value of the humanities SoTL. In K. McKinney (Ed.), The scholarship of teaching and learning in and across disciplines (pp. 15-33). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Chick, N. L. (2014). “Methodologically sound” under the “big tent”: An ongoing conversation. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 8(2), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2014.080201

Chick, N. L. (2018). SoTL in action: Illuminating critical moments of practice. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Chng, H. H. (2015, October). Leading learning and the scholarship of change from the SoTL margin: SoTL capacity building from an Asian location. Keynote at the meeting of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Melbourne, Australia.

Chng, H. H., & Looker, P. (2013). On the margins of SoTL discourse: An Asian perspective. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 1(1), 131-145. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.1.1.131

Fanghanel, J., Pritchard, J., Potter, J., & Wisker, G. (2016). Defining and supporting the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): A sector-wide study. Literature review. York: Higher Education Academy.

Felten, P. (2013). Principles of good practice in SoTL. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 1(1), 121-125. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.1.1.121

Ginsberg, S. M., & Bernstein, J. L. (2011). Growing the scholarship of teaching and learning through institutional culture change. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 11(1), 1-12. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals-playground/index.php/josotl/article/view/1806

Guzmán-Valenzuela C. (2017). The geopolitics of research in teaching and learning in the university in Latin America. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South, 1(1), 4-18. Retrieved from http://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=10

Huber, M. T., & Hutchings, P. (2005). The advancement of learning: Building the teaching commons. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Hutchings, P. (2000). Introduction: Approaching the scholarship of teaching and learning. In P. Hutchings (Ed.), Opening lines: Approaches to the scholarship of teaching and learning (pp. 1-10). Menlo Park, CA: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Hutchings, P., Huber, M. T., & Ciccone, A. (2011). The scholarship of teaching and learning reconsidered: Institutional integration and impact. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Leibowitz, B. & Bozalek, V. (2018). Towards a slow scholarship of teaching and learning in the South. Teaching in Higher Education, 23(8), 981-994. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2018.1452730

Marcketti, S., VanDerZanden, A. M., & Leptien, J. R. (2015). SoTL champions: Leveraging their lessons learned. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9(1), article 4. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2015.090104

Mårtensson, K. (2014). Influencing teaching and learning microcultures: Academic development in a research-intensive university (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Lund University, Lund. Retrieved from http://portal.research.lu.se/ws/files/3403041/4438677.pdf

Mårtensson, K., Roxå, T., & Olsson, T. (2011). Developing a quality culture through the scholarship of teaching and learning. Higher Education Research and Development, 30(1), 51-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2011.536972

Miller-Young, J., & Yeo, M. (2015). Conceptualizing and communicating SoTL: A framework for the field. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 3(2), 37-53. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.3.2.37

Poole, G. (2013). Square one: What is research? In K. McKinney (Ed.), The scholarship of teaching and learning in and across disciplines (pp. 135-151). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Potter, M. K., & Kustra, E. D. H. (2011). The relationship between scholarly teaching and SoTL: Models, distinctions, and clarifications. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 5(1), article 23. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2011.050123

Schroeder, C. (2007). Countering SoTL marginalization: A model for integrating SoTL with institutional initiatives. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 1(1), article 15. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2007.010115

Sveriges universitets-och högskoleförbund/The Association of Swedish Higher Education (2016). Recommendations on general learning outcomes for the teaching qualifications required for employment as academic teacher and on mutual recognition. Retrieved from https://suhf.se/app/uploads/2019/03/REK-2016-1-On-general-learning-outcomes-for-teaching-qualifications_Dnr-024-16.pdf

Volbrecht, T. (2003). The story of South African academic development in international perspective: Have we lost the plot? South African Journal of Higher Education, 17(2), 110-117. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/sajhe.v17i2.25304

Downloads

Published

2020-03-15

How to Cite

Chng, Huang Hoon, Katarina Mårtensson, and Brenda Leibowitz. 2020. “Leading Change from Different Shores: The Challenges of Contextualizing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning”. Teaching and Learning Inquiry 8 (1):24-41. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.8.1.3.