Creating Spaces and Enabling Transitions for Engagement in SoTL: Can Policy Provide a Framework for Action?

Abstract

Much has been written on the conceptualisation of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), and on the approaches and methods used by scholars across the globe. A major challenge is how SoTL can be moved from being an add-on option for academic staff, to a culture embedded in the way higher education institutions engage with teaching and learning. This paper reflects on an institutional policy on the evaluation of teaching as a means to create spaces and enable transitions for academics' engagement in SoTL. Elements of the policy aimed at encouraging SoTL and their implications for the anticipated change are discussed. The paper argues that the practices foregrounded in the policy statements create spaces to support academics' transitions to engage in SoTL. However, for this to happen, the paper suggests that a clear strategy is needed to support change at all levels. This strategy should provide support and guidance on the uptake of SoTL at the individual, faculty, and institutional level.