Approaches to support the scholarship of teaching and scholarly teaching practice at Leeds Beckett University (LBU)

The “scholarship of teaching” (SoTL) and “the practice of scholarly teaching”, although closely related, are activities which differ in intention and outcome. The purpose of scholarly teaching is to affect the activity of teaching and the resulting learning, while the scholarship of teaching results in a formal, peer-reviewed communication in appropriate media, which then becomes part of the body of knowledge of teaching and learning in higher education (Richlin & Cox, 2004, p.127).
Although all staff should endeavour to pursue scholarly teaching, not all will engage in the scholarship of teaching. One of the essential differences between the two is the degree of interest in the wider implications and impact of the results from the outputs from formal peer reviewed outputs. (Smith, 2001).
This presentation outlines approaches (led by the Centre for Learning and Teaching [CLT]) which specifically support the development of the scholarship of teaching at LBU. These will be outlined in the context of understanding that the evidence and evaluation of the SoTL needs to be preceded by an active commitment to being a scholarly teacher. Activities such as, i) a staff writing retreat to develop peer-reviewed publications, ii) a module for new academic staff focused on research into pedagogy, iii) mentoring colleagues via a new Research Centre which has the pedagogy of Higher Education as a core stream, iv) special edition journals for new writers, v) institutional memberships of organisations such as the Staff and Educational Developers Association (SEDA), and the Higher Education Academy (HEA), vi) encouraging staff to do PhD by Publication, vii) CLT funding for conferences focusing on pedagogy to promote the scholarship of teaching and, as part of this, the wider dissemination and evaluation of teaching practice.

This is underpinned by an infrastructure which supports developing critically reflective scholarly teachers from an early stage such as, i) our thriving HEA Fellowships scheme which requires staff to reflect on their teaching portfolio, ii) a “grow your own" National Teaching Fellow scheme, iii) Curriculum and Digital Innovation project funding, and iv) peer observation of teaching v) a staff development workshops, learning and teaching fora and an annual conference.

References:
Richlin, L. (2001). Scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 86, 57-67.

Richlin, L., & Cox., M. (2004). Developing scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching through faculty learning communities. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 97, 127,135.

Smith, R. (2001). Expertise and the scholarship of teaching. New Directions for Teaching and
Learning, 86, 59-77.