The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Have we been the architects of our own demise?

Description

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) (Boyer, 1990) is officially 35 years old this year. This is a landmark date because it is around the length of time it takes to establish a new field or discipline (Becher & Trowler, 2001). What has the trajectory for SoTL been in terms of establishing a new field? In the past decade especially, “scholarship” has been embedded into universities’ business across the (English-speaking) globe. However, there remain many contradictions and unresolved tensions around “scholarship” and SoTL which have not been resolved in over two decades (Boshier, 2009; Hutchings, 2007). These contradictions affect teachers in higher education who aim to be SoTL scholars, often adversely. SoTL, which is meant to support and elevate teaching within the academy has become a political football. Institutions embed “scholarship” in reward and recognition schemes yet are hesitant to agree to an evidence-based definition (Kreber, 2002). We subscribe to “The Big Tent” (Chick, 2014; Hamilton & MCollum, 2024) but seem unable to progress beyond it. We put old wine in new bottles and call it “innovation” (Webb, 2016). And as a sector we are unable to come to consensus around the definition of “scholarship” and SoTL.

Exploring these thorny issues through the lens of Threshold Concepts (Meyer & Land, 2005; A. Tierney, 2019; A. M. Tierney, 2017; Webb, 2016) gives us the opportunity to reflect on the past thirty five years of SoTL and the past twenty years of Threshold Concepts themselves. What can we learn from the past? How does that affect teaching in higher education in the present? And what can we do to impact on the future of SoTL and higher education? And have we backed ourselves into a corner?

Period	4 Jul 2025
Event title	10th Biennial Threshold Concepts Conference 2025
Event type	Conference
Location	Vancouver, Canada, British ColumbiaShow on map