Towards a Slow scholarship of teaching and learning in the South

Abstract

Although the concept of a scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) has emanated from the global North, it is a relevant and useful concept in the global South. The concept was initiated in the 1990s in the US. The original emphases in the seminal Boyer Report, on the integration of various forms of scholarship, the importance of intellectual thought and the collaborative nature of teaching have been subject to various distortions, in part due to the depredations of neoliberalism and performativity. We argue that Slow scholarship, which has resonances with Boyer's notions of the scholarship of teaching and learning provides much potential for reconceptualising SOTL in the South. These claims are explored via a case study set in South Africa, where academic developers at eleven higher education institutions covering the range of institutional types were interviewed.

Listening Beyond Words: Swinging Together

“…8 Slow inquiry is engaged in re-thinking time and space and how we inhabit them in a meaningful way in research endeavors. It is not about doing less or what we do at a more leisurely pace, but being engaged in research activities that are worthwhile (Leibowitz and Bozalek 2018). 9 Our filmalogue could be seen as a methodological development of well-known methods like, for instance, photovoice.…”

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

“…These universities see SoTL as a more feasible way of encouraging academics to produce research outputs, in this time of performativity and a corporatized approach to research. Born out of frustration, a small research project on the challenges and opportunities provided by SoTL in South Africa was undertaken (Leibowitz & Bozalek, 2018). This study's findings (p. 986-992) included a number of joys, challenges, and constraints facing academics wishing to pursue SoTL in South Africa, many are shared in contexts like Asia and Europe, and perhaps elsewhere, too.…”

Re-Thinking the Humanities Curriculum in the Time of Covid-19

“…It is envisaged that through slowing down, 'we are able to reconnect with ourselves and others and nurture relationships to improve the quality of life and work' (Collett et al 2018:120). In academia, we have come to see the imprint of this philosophy expressed through the conceptions of Slow Science, Slow Pedagogy, Slow Ontology, Slow Philosophy and the Slow Professor (Berg & Seeber 2016;Boulous Walker 2016;Collett et al 2018;Leibowitz & Bozalek 2018;Stengers 2011;Ulmer 2017). Whilst this 'slowness' is often perceived as unproductive in academic circles, its urgency proves valuable and might rather be professed as 'differently productive' rather than unproductive (Ulmer 2017: 201).…”