Broadening Conceptions of What Constitutes Knowledge and Evidence in SoTL

Thomas, Sharon

doi:10.20429/ijsotl.2011.050125

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Institutional websites like that cited above are bound to formulate definitions of SOTL that can easily be applied to practice. After thirty years of debate, however, the literature on SOTL still routinely expresses concern for a lack of clear definition and what it means to do it (Kizito & Clarence-Fincham 2017;Booth & Woollacott 2015;Fanghanel, McGowan, Parker, McConnell, Potter, Locke & Healey 2015;Potter & Kustra 2011;Thomas 2011). In a chapter significantly titled 'Situating the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning ' Huber and Morreale (2002:16) suggest that it "may be unnecessary to attempt a precise definition of SoTL".…”

Section: Reverse Black Boxmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contextualising contexts – Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and cultural difference

Looker

2018

Sotls

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SOTL has an originary moment and a well-rehearsed history. It has been constructed as an approach to understanding teaching and learning with a focus on reflective practice to improve practice and student learning, but it excludes sociocultural influences. This paper argues that by concentrating on the ‘classroom’, and cognitive measures of success, SOTL conforms to a Western view of what is valuable in education. This instrumentalist perspective allows the process of SOTL to seem universally applicable. It is argued that this instrumentalist approach is a black-box perspective, analogous to the black box of the mind seen in behaviourism. Using Chakrabarty’s notion of “provincializing Europe”, some structural elements of SOTL history are analysed with an eye to provincialising SOTL. Following this, a personal teaching experience across two cultures is described to demonstrate the inability of SOTL to comprehend the behaviour of students across different cultures without providing more contextual information. Differences between East Asian and Western views of cognition are presented to suggest that cultural differences in conceptions of learning have a significant effect on what happens in the classroom. In conclusion, if SOTL is to be meaningful internationally, it needs both to embrace and be explicit about sociocultural influences and, crucially, it needs to be decentred from Western hegemonic practice. How to cite this article: LOOKER, Peter. Contextualising contexts – Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and cultural difference. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South, v. 2, n. 1, p. 112-128, Apr. 2018. Available at: http://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=32 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Section: Reverse Black Boxmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contextualising contexts – Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and cultural difference

Looker

2018

Sotls

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“…The core aim of such inquiry is not to "prove" or "disprove" anything, but rather question the notion of truth and, in doing so, expand notions of "possibility". "Truth" is considered to be relativepartial, situated, tentative and gendered (Thomas, 2011).…”

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Purposes of human inquiry I have argued elsewhere (Thomas, 2011) that research approaches ought not compete, but rather complement each other. This belief is aptly captured by Polkinghorne (1988) who suggests that we need "approaches that are especially sensitive to the unique characteristics of human existence", not more varied applications of traditional methods ( p. x).…”

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These two ways of knowing are, according to J. Bruner (1986b), "irreducible to one another" and any attempt to reduce one to the other or ignore one in favour of the other "inevitably fail [s] to capture the rich diversity of thought" ( p. 11) (Thomas, 2011). Yet, the division between the paradigmatic and narrative ways of knowing might not be as cleanly divided as Bruner suggests.…”

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Narrative inquiry: embracing the possibilities

Thomas

2012

Qualitative Research Journal

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to promote narrative inquiry as a legitimate and rich research approach for academics undertaking postgraduate studies in higher education learning and teaching. Design/methodology/approach -This paper is framed within a personal narrative -one that draws upon the author's personal experience as an academic developer. It draws heavily on narrative theory to support its claims. Findings -It is argued that when narrative inquiry is presented as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, other research approaches, uptake amongst diverse groups of academics is strong. Furthermore, it is suggested that when accompanied by personal engagement with narrative inquiry and presented within a theoretical framework that honours its history, its robust literature and highlights its fundamental purpose and unique qualities, the possibilities offered by narrative are more likely to be understood and embraced. Research limitations/implications -This paper is based upon the experience of one academic working within one university. Originality/value -This paper highlights the possibilities offered by narrative inquiry as a research approach for diverse groups of teaching academics.

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“…given the relative, situated, partial, tentative and gendered nature of that truth or reality (Thomas, S., 2011).…”

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confidence: 99%

Visualising the experiences of working part time postgraduates: A meteoric juggling of worlds

Steele¹

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Broadening Conceptions of What Constitutes Knowledge and Evidence in SoTL

Cited by 9 publications

References 24 publications

Contextualising contexts – Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and cultural difference

Contextualising contexts – Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and cultural difference

Narrative inquiry: embracing the possibilities

Visualising the experiences of working part time postgraduates: A meteoric juggling of worlds

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