Lydia Arnold

Last week, I visited the University of Kent to offer an inaugural talk to the Scholarship and Professional Practice Network focusing on the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching (SoTL). We explored what SoTL it is, why we might want to get involved, and importantly, how to get started. All ideas shared were caveated with the message that they should be treated critically, especially given the current substantial and widespread pressures on higher education. Whenever I speak at other institutions, I always try to recognise that not everything shared may be immediately transferrable.

So, what is SoTL? Together, we attempted to pinpoint the features of SoTL but found it challenging to confine it to a neat definition. In some ways, this is fitting as SoTL is inherently messy. We arrived at a list of points that included:

• Scholarship that enhances or appreciates practices in teaching and supporting learning.
• Work that articulates practice in a sharable way.
• Activities that influence teaching and support practices of others.
• Learning that is articulated and disseminated purposefully or helpfully through formal and informal means.
• Scholarship that includes educators and/or students working to improve the experience.

We acknowledged the definitions of scholarship in the literature and specifically noted the usefulness of the Capacity Building Framework, which emphasises SoTL as developing practice, generating change, creating impact, and engaging students. Although the literature review by Fanghanel and colleagues from Advance HE is excellent and details the nuances of SoTL, we agreed to proceed with a broad understanding of SoTL rather than debating its intricacies. I recommend this text for anyone wanting to explore the concept more deeply though.

In the spirit of pragmatism, we focused on practical steps for SoTL. I posed the question, ‘Where do I start when SoTL is like spaghetti?’ — messy, challenging to begin, but enjoyable once underway. The first suggestion was that community is essential. SoTL should not be a solitary endeavour. Communities of practice (CoPs) or journal clubs can build trust, confidence, and facilitate discussion. From an institutional perspective, they can act as catalysts for change. I gave examples of how CoPs might be initiated by people in various roles, such as professional services, administrators, and academics — roles here do not really matter. CoPs can be incubators for ideas, trying and evaluating new practices, assessing evidence and sharing failure, and for spreading learning beyond the immediate community. Despite all of the theory around CoPs, some cookies and refreshments are all that are generally needed to get started. 

The talk focused on taking care of our own SoTL foundations as they provide fuel for ideas creation. Regular reading, writing, and connecting are key. Each component deserves reflection. With reading, we might consider what to read and how to make time for this. Using audiobooks to listen while performing routine tasks, a concept from James Clear’s ‘Atomic Habits’ about habit stacking, can be attractive. Targeted reading, rather than random, can be more beneficial given time pressures. Focus on whose work matters and how a timeline or conversation between authors has developed over time. If you are very time tight podcasts can provide a shortcut in to current conversations in topics of interest and one of my favourites is the L&T Chat Show from Roger Saunders. The On writing – habits are deeply personal; for example, I cannot rise early to write at dawn! [that time for me is better spent outside]. I am more of a time snatcher with both reading and writing.  I use a well-organised bookmarks bar to access my Microsoft Notes file where I jot down ideas — some of which are shared and followed up, while others are not. As for connecting, proficiency with social media is essential. SoTL leaders, authors, and speakers often share thoughts and ideas online, and engaging actively can be much more rewarding and valuable. There are lots of resources about productivity and so many tips can be applied to SoTL in the name of reducing barriers. 

I collated some tips related to these foundations and answers (shared with permission) include:

• Dictate thoughts into a phone app and convert them via speech-to-text.
• Step away from technology to gain headspace for writing.
• Block time to step away from day-to-day tasks and normalise this practice.
• Collaborate with colleagues from other disciplines to leverage complementary skills.
• Create social media searches and save them to your bookmarks bar so you can regularly check in with what’s being said on specific topics with minimal effort. 
• Use practice as the site of SoTL; don’t try to layer on new things – it’s unsustainable. 

Another shared principle was to start small, using a framework or loose plan to navigate an SoTL challenge. Formats vary; for example, creating a one-page guide to practice rooted in evidence gives instant knowledge to others in a digestible form. Size this up with 30 contributors generates a valuable and widely sharable output (I credit my colleague Jane Headley with this pass the practice format). A more formal approach could involve using action research to tackle small projects focused on developing practice or addressing significant practice-based issues. The HEA guide to action research and its sister publication, which showcases examples from across the sector, can be helpful to get started.

Another strategy to assist with SoTL involves seeking support from experienced mentors. Reach out to individuals working in similar areas to ask for feedback or suggestions, starting a conversation can be very enriching. In my experience, the international SoTL community is very generous with sharing, though it’s also important to be respectful of others’ time with any requests. 

I suggested maximising impact by linking opportunities together (I’m calling this ‘output stacking’). This is the multiplier approach to SoTL.  For example, summarising key points from a presentation in a blog post accomplishes two tasks at once (I promised in my talk at Kent to model this approach by creating this post). This approach isn’t effortless, but it’s less daunting than starting from scratch on two different outputs. Other examples include publishing articles linked to Tweet Chats (as demonstrated recently by Iain Wilson with his work on reflection which emerged as a social media event) or running workshops and then amplifying them through social media. One of my most fun versions of the multiplier recently was a recorded teams call that I undertook with two colleagues. We made a recording as a resource for our own routine support for others on the topic of authentic assessment. It then lay dormant until I mentioned it online and was encourage to share more widely – so something that was thoughtful and considered, but hidden, was then amplified to a wider audience through this excellent portal [National Teaching Repository]. Output stacking is not solely about getting more outputs (more isn’t always better), but rehearsing SoTL and engaging with different audiences helps build and refine ideas. My own work on authentic assessment has evolved with every interaction, and even this piece is slightly different than the talk it grew from. 

It may be useful to define your SoTL focus too. What captivates your interest? While a scattershot approach may be interesting and at times essential, consider how you would write a press release about your future work if you were to keynote the Learning and Teaching equivalent of the Pyramid Stage. Identifying themes is good practice for achieving Senior or Principal Fellowships, or even National Teaching Fellowships, where a coherent body of work is essential. Here is an example of my ‘narrative’— notice how the themes were not actively chosen but rather emerged and became central to my SoTL themes:”I worked with traditionally excluded learners; action research provided them a way to learn, while media and innovative assessments offered tools for success. As my career progressed, technology, action research, and assessment became my key themes. Pragmatism was also crucial — nothing significant happens without it.”

To align SoTL with strategic priorities at your institution it may also be helpful to familiarise yourself with university strategies and other key documents. This prevents your interests from being pet projects and instead helps align them with urgent needs and strategic goals, which are vital for recognition and reward.  Working with strategy should not limit what we choose as a restriction, it may help us to prioritise and link together SoTL with other initiatives.

As you develop your SoTL, it’s beneficial to create a mental (or even written) list of places to publish. This can be undertaken as a community effort. Consider engaging in funded calls such as QAA Enhancement projects, self-publishing, blogs, professional journals (if your discipline or profession has learning and teaching-focused journals or magazines), and perhaps even podcasts. If you’re considering more formal writing, think about submitting to SoTL or research journals. Understanding where to publish is facilitated through networking and connections. I learn every day on all of this – there is never a point where we complete this process.

To energize SoTL efforts, consider finding ways to come together to showcase and share work. Organise events where you can present practices that have been successful and supported by evidence, share methods that did not work and seek peer feedback on why. Hosting small projects at short-format conferences and inviting senior stakeholders can galvanise and attract attention. Pop-up events and more formal gatherings provide a home for SoTL, fostering a sense of occasion and celebration.

The penultimate point focuses on impact. How do we notice it, measure it, and articulate it?Metrics in SoTL can be challenging, but impact shows in many ways — perhaps colleagues are utilising a technique you’ve adapted, or perhaps an entire cohort of students is using a new planning or study resource you’ve developed. Seek to recognise your immediate impact and any ripple effects. Encourage feedback from others on how your work has affected them and monitor interactions with your social media – unashamedly ask for feedback. Consider how many students your efforts have directly impacted and how your influence has extended to others. One of the most challenging aspects regarding reward and recognition is that simply being a good educator is rarely sufficient [sadly so]. In SoTL, value is placed on sharing, leadership, and influence. We need to notice and articulate our own influence. 

Finally, and perhaps the most importantly for me – is confidence. In the talk I shared how – even after over 20 years in HE I still have anxiety when sharing thoughts, ideas and writing. There are no grounds for my fears because the SoTL community is generous and supportive, beautifully so. Practically – AI is our friend for anyone needing an editing friend. Community is our friend when we want to test and rehearse our learning and thoughts. Perhaps the idea that perfect is the enemy of good is true for SoTL. Fearing imperfection leads to stagnation. The ‘Just. Do. It’ approach is key. Rather than seeing SoTL as something else to do, consider how to embed, normalise and live out SoTL. 

Here is the slide deck from the talk and credit to Iain Wilson for his contribution which I shared in the talk and which is in the notes of the relevant slide. Iain’s experience of, output stacking and mentor links, was used as a case study.