Why is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning such a hard sell?

2009/03/01 by Roger Boshier · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Evaluation of Teaching Practices #Higher Education Practises and Engagement #Reflective Practices in Education

paper · doi:10.1080/07294360802444321

openalex publication_date 2009/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

Advocates have difficulty convincing colleagues Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is a worthwhile use of time and resources. This article highlights problems impeding SoTL. First, scholarship of teaching gets used as a synonym for other activities. Second, Boyer’s definition was conceptually confused. Third, SoTL is difficult to operationalize. Fourth, much discourse concerning SoTL is anti‐intellectual and located in a narrow neoliberalism. Fifth, there is uncritical over‐reliance on peer review as the mechanism for measuring scholarship. Each impediment makes SoTL a hard sell – particularly in research‐intensive universities. Taken together, they constitute a formidable problem for SoTL advocates and contain incendiary implications for promotion candidates and committees.

Citations

• The Scholarship of Teaching:New Elaborations, New Developments

Cited by

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