Brokering Boundary Crossings through the SoTL Landscape of Practice

Barbara Kensington-Miller; Andrea Webb; Ann Gansemer-Topf; Heather Lewis; Julie Luu; Geneviève Maheux-Pelletier; Analise Hofmann

doi:10.20343/teachlearninqu.9.1.24

Authors

Barbara Kensington-Miller University of Auckland
Andrea Webb University of British Columbia
Ann Gansemer-Topf Iowa State University
Heather Lewis Pratt Institute
Julie Luu Monash University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5424-8157
Geneviève Maheux-Pelletier York University
Analise Hofmann University of British Columbia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.9.1.24

Keywords:

SoTL, Landscape of practice, boundary crossing, collaboration, brokering

Abstract

This study examines the lived experiences of seven internationally diverse scholars from Canada, the United States, New Zealand, and Australia to answer the question: how do we make meaning of our collective boundary crossing experiences across disciplines and positions within SoTL? Our positions range from graduate student, faculty, and academic developers, to department chair and centre director. We conducted a phenomenological study, based on narratives of experience, and drew on Wenger-Trayner and Wenger-Trayner’s (2015) theoretical framework that explores the features of a landscape of practice. Guided by this framework, we analyze our boundary crossings and brokering across the “diverse, political and flat” features of the SoTL landscape. Our collective findings highlight the critical role brokers play in facilitating boundary crossings. Brokering is precarious, bringing people together, building trusting relationships, and developing legitimacy while negotiating deadlocks, bureaucracy, authorities, and a multitude of challenges. Brokers, we found, require strength and resilience to mobilise, influence, and drive change in the landscape to transform existing practices or create new ones. We suggest that our analytical process can be used as a tool of analysis for future research about how brokers influence the SoTL landscape of practice and how brokering enhances SoTL development, support, and leadership.

Author Biographies

Barbara Kensington-Miller, University of Auckland

Barbara Kensington-Miller is an Associate Professor of Higher Education in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at The University of Auckland (NZL).

Andrea Webb, University of British Columbia

Andrea S. Webb is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in Social Studies Education at the University of British Columbia (CAN).

Ann Gansemer-Topf, Iowa State University

Ann Gansemer-Topf is an Associate Professor of Higher Education in the School of Education at Iowa State University (USA).

Heather Lewis, Pratt Institute

Heather Lewis is a Professor of Art and Design Education at Pratt Institute (USA). She led a three-year, cross-disciplinary SoTL initiative at Pratt Institute grounded in faculty learning communities.

Julie Luu, Monash University

Julie Luu is an Educational Designer in the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University (AUS).

Geneviève Maheux-Pelletier, York University

Geneviève Maheux-Pelletier is an educational developer, educator, and scholar of teaching and learning currently serving as the director of the Teaching Commons at York University (CAN).

Analise Hofmann, University of British Columbia

Analise K. Hofmann is a PhD candidate in Genome Science & Technology at the University of British Columbia (CAN).

References

Becher, Tony. 1989. Academic Tribes and Territories: Intellectual Enquiry and the Cultures of Disciplines. Buckingham, U.K.: Open University Press.

Behari-Leak, Kasturi. 2019. “Decolonial Turns, Postcolonial Shifts, and Cultural Connections: Are We There Yet?” English Academy Review 36, no. 1: 58–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/10131752.2019.1579881.

Brew, Angela. 2008. “Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Affiliations of Experienced Researchers.” Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education Research 56: 423–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-007-9102-4.

Chick, Nancy L. 2013. “Difference, Privilege, and Power in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: The Value of Humanities SoTL.” In The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in and Across the Disciplines, edited by Kathleen McKinney, 15–33. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Chng, Huang Hoon, Brenda Leibowitz, and Katarina Mårtensson. 2020. “Leading Change from Different Shores: The Challenges of Contextualizing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.” Teaching & Learning Inquiry 8, no. 1: 24–41. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.8.1.3.

Cook-Sather, Alison, and Peter Felten. 2017. “Ethics of Academic Leadership: Guiding Learning and Teaching.” In Cosmopolitan Perspectives on Academic Leadership in Higher Education, edited by Feng Su and Margaret Wood, 175–91. London: Bloomsbury.

Cox, Milton D. 2003. “Fostering the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Through Faculty Learning Communities.” Journal on Excellence in College Teaching 14, no. 2/3: 161–98.

Cresswell, John W. 2013. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. Thousand Oaks.CA: Sage.

Dall’Alba, Gloria. 2009. “Phenomenology and Education: An Introduction.” Educational Philosophy and Theory 41, no. 1: 7–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2008.00479.x/.

Duffy, Donna K. 2006. “COPPER: Communities of Practice—Pooling Educational Resources to Foster the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.” Community College Journal of Research and Practice 30, no. 2: 151–52.

Fanghanel, Joëlle. 2013. “Going Public with Pedagogical Inquiries: SoTL as a Methodology for Faculty Professional Development.” Teaching and Learning Inquiry 1, no. 1: 59–70. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.1.1.59.

Fanghanel, Joëlle, and Paul Trowler. 2008. “Exploring Academic Identities and Practices in a Competitive Enhancement Context: A UK-Based Case Study.” The European Journal of Education: Research, Development and Policy 43, no. 3: 301–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-3435.2008.00356.x.

Felten, Peter. 2013. “Principles of Good Practice in SoTL.” Teaching and Learning Inquiry 1, no. 1: 121–25. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.1.1.121.

Fereday, Jennifer, and Eimear Muir-Cochrane. 2006. “Demonstrating Rigor Using Thematic Analysis: A Hybrid Approach of Inductive and Deductive Coding and Theme Development.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods 5, no. 1: 80–92. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F160940690600500107.

Frechette, Julie, Vasiliki Bitzas, Monique Aubry, Kelley Kilpatrick, and Mélanie Lavoie-Tremblay. 2020. “Capturing Lived Experience: Methodological Considerations for Interpretive Phenomenological Inquiry.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406920907254.

Gauthier, Launa. 2016. “Redesigning for Student Success: Cultivating Communities of Practice in a Higher Education Classroom.” Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 16, no. 2: 1–13.

Hong, Jacky F, and Fiona K. H. O. 2009. “Conflicting Identities and Power between Communities of Practice: The Case of IT Outsourcing.” Management Learning 40, no. 3: 311–26. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1350507609104342.

Hubball, Harry, and Anthony Clarke. 2010. “Diverse Methodological Approaches and Considerations for SoTL in Higher Education.” The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 1, no. 1.

Hubball, Harry, Anthony Clarke, and Gary Poole. 2010. “Ten‐Year Reflections on Mentoring SoTL Research in a Research‐Intensive University.” International Journal for Academic Development 15, no. 2: 117–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/13601441003737758.

Kelly, Niamh, Susan Nesbit, and Carolyn Oliver. 2012. “A Difficult Journey: Transitioning from STEM to SoTL.” International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 6, no. 1: Article 18.

Kensington-Miller, Barbara, Joanna Renc-Roe, and Susan Morón-García. 2015. “The Chameleon on a Tartan Rug: Adaptations of Three Academic Developers’ Professional Identities.” International Journal for Academic Development 20, no. 3: 279–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2015.1047373.

Kubiak, Chris, Mark Fenton-O’Creevy, Karen Appleby, Maxine Kempster, Michael Reed, Carla Solvason, and Mary Thorpe. 2015. “Brokering Boundary Encounters.” In Learning in Landscapes of Practice: Boundaries, Identity, and Knowledgeability in Practice-Based Learning, edited by Etienne Wenger-Trayner, Mark Fenton-O'Creevy, Steven Hutchinson, Chris Kubiak, and Beverly Wenger-Trayner, 81–96. New York: Routledge

Kupatadze, Ketevan. 2019. “Opportunities Presented by the Forced Occupation of Liminal Space: Underrepresented Faculty Experiences and Perspectives.” International Journal for Students as Partners 3, no. 1: 22–33. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v3i1.3744.

Lincoln, Yvonna S., and Egon G. Guba. 1985. Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.

Lopez, Kay A., and Danny G. Willis. 2004. “Descriptive Versus interpretive Phenomenology: Their Contributions to Nursing Knowledge.” Qualitative Health Research 14, no. 5: 726–35. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1049732304263638.

McKinney, Kathleen. 2013. The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in and Across the Disciplines. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Mørk, Bjørn E., Thomas Hoholm, Gunnae Ellingsen, Bjørn Edwin, and Margunn Aanestad. 2010. “Challenging Expertise: On Power Relations Within and Across Communities of Practice in Medical Innovation.” Management Learning 41, no. 5: 575–92. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1350507610374552.

Simmons, Nicola, Earle Abrahamson, Jessica Deshler, Barbara Kensington-Miller, Karen Manarin, Susan Morón-García, Carolyn Oliver, and Joanna Renc-Roe. 2013. “Conflicts and Configurations in a Liminal Space: SoTL Scholars’ Identity Development.” Teaching & Learning Inquiry 1, no. 2: 9–21. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.1.2.9.

Sturdy, Andrew, Timothy Clark, Robin Fincham, and Karen Handley. 2009. “Between Innovation and Legitimation—Boundaries and Knowledge Flow in Management Consultancy.” Organization 16, no. 5: 627–53. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1350508409338435.

Van Manen, Max. 1997. Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy. London, ON: Althouse Press.

Webb, Andrea, and Ashley J. Welsh. 2019. “Phenomenology as a Methodology for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Research.” Teaching & Learning Inquiry 7, no. 1: 168–81. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.7.1.11.

Wenger, Etienne. 1998. Communities of Practice. Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wenger-Trayner, Etienne, and Beverly Wenger-Trayner. 2015. “Learning in a Landscape of Practice.” In Learning in Landscapes of Practice: Boundaries, Identity, and Knowledgeability in Practice-Based Learning, edited by Etienne Wenger-Trayner, Mark Fenton-O'Creevy, Steven Hutchinson, Chris Kubiak, and Beverly Wenger-Trayner, 13–32. New York: Routledge.