Are You a Scholarly Teacher? 3 Questions to Ask Yourself
Welcome to Scholarly Teaching 101, a new series for On the Teaching Track.
A Brief Series Introduction
If you are an early-career, non-tenure-track faculty member, you know how overwhelming it can sometimes feel to pivot from disciplinary research to a career as an educational professional advancing teaching and learning on your campus. These identity crises are not uncommon, especially in a world where there are more PhDs than jobs, and many of us, despite genuine passion for and investment in teaching & learning, feel pressured to seek out the dwindling number of tenure-track jobs. Teaching-track jobs require their own forms of expertise. Full stop. And even though labor conditions and compensation for non-tenure-track faculty vary — sometimes widely — from campus to campus and even department to department, these positions and the missions and responsibilities that come with them are something to be proud of.
But it can be challenging to think proactively about cohering or recentering your professional identity in your first years on the job. It can feel like facing a fire hose of information, as you simultaneously get a handle on
the basic logistics of teaching at your new institution (where are my classrooms? why are my classrooms so far apart? how is my teaching even assigned? and why do I have so many students??)
campus priorities advancing teaching & learning (what is this “strategic plan” you speak of?)
departmental and institutional criteria for promotion and standards for teaching excellence (but I just got here!)
So, if you are new to your teaching-track job but feel confident this is the career path for you, this series will help you create space to learn, pause, and reflect, well ahead of your first annual or probationary review or promotion, and clearly define what scholarly teaching means and looks like to you.
If you have already identified yourself as a scholarly teacher (or one in the making) and have spent three or more years in rank, this series will help you make your scholarly teaching more visible in both your day-to-day teaching practice and across your career documents and teaching portfolio. At the end of the day, it is on you to take charge of your narrative and make your scholarly teaching recognizable to others.
Laying the Foundation
In this inaugural post, I want to:
define scholarly teaching for new practitioners and
prompt initial critical reflection (the first step toward becoming a scholarly teacher).
If you already see yourself as a scholarly teacher, you’ll explain in new words how and why. If you don’t, this post will help you get there. Let’s begin!
What Makes a Scholarly Teacher?
As a new gardening enthusiast, I like to think in flowers (and I’m not the only one - JT Torres, Lance Eaton, & Deborah Kronenberg recently published a great piece in Inside Higher Ed using floral metaphors to describe the work of teaching centers). So, I created the following acronym to summarize the general qualities of scholarly teachers for those new to this term.
To quote Torres, Eaton, & Kronenberg, “Orchids require significant care and controlled environments to flourish. Orchid work symbolizes slow, intentional cultivation—projects that are thoughtfully nurtured over time. These efforts demand patience, consistency and a commitment to depth over breadth. While the process is slower, the results are uniquely meaningful, reflecting a product of deliberate focus.”
Although they use orchids as a metaphor for long-term planning in educational development, we, too, cultivate our identities as scholarly teachers slowly and intentionally. This is not a development that happens overnight; rather, it is a perpetual investment, not only in your students but in yourself.
Now, let’s break down the acronym, noting that each of these qualities, regardless of their order here, is equally important.
Open
Scholarly teachers are open to new ideas, knowledge, and strategies from colleagues, scholars, and instructional consultants that can improve student learning and engagement. Furthermore, they may be open to contributing and producing their own scholarship on teaching and learning (SoTL) when the time is right; however, producing SoTL is not a requirement, let alone a prerequisite, for identifying as a scholarly teacher.
Reflective
Scholarly teachers are critically reflective about their teaching. This reflection is rooted in scholarship, feedback, and evidence (see data-driven below) and explicitly unpacks the assumptions faculty make about the teaching and learning that happens in their courses. Reflecting in this way is a highly analytical and self-critical practice, which means that to be a scholarly teacher, you must get comfortable being honest with yourself, acknowledging that no one’s teaching practice is perfect, and acting on your findings.
Creative
Scholarly teachers don’t view teaching and learning as static processes that can be perfected once and endlessly replicated with the same results. Instead, they use research and data to develop and test innovative teaching practices that are responsive and student-centered. Scholarly teachers are creative in the ways they synthesize and apply diverse concepts, strategies, and theories gathered from SoTL, educational development programming, and other sources (inside and outside of higher education) to their unique teaching contexts.
Habitual
Scholarly teachers are routinely reflective, as critical self-assessment is not something that happens only once. They are also committed to expanding their knowledge and make it a habit to read the latest scholarship on teaching in their discipline. Remember, scholarly teaching is a long-term commitment. You can’t reflect or read a SoTL article once because you were told to by a mentor and call yourself a scholarly teacher. Make reflection and seeking new knowledge and strategies a regular practice.
Informed
Scholarly teachers are informed, meaning they leverage various types of resources to support student success and drive their teaching mission. Scholarly teachers gather and integrate knowledge and evidence-based strategies from research on teaching and learning (SoTL publications & conference presentations) and institutional programs (campus centers for teaching & learning, learning communities & working groups, etc.) into their teaching practice. This professional development legibly informs their course designs, teaching methods, & assessment strategies.
Data-Driven
Scholarly teachers do not simply assume that their teaching is pedagogically sound, nor do they take for granted that what and how they teach align with each course’s student learning outcomes. Instead, they prioritize student data to inform their teaching practices and refine their course designs. Scholarly teachers regularly document and reflect on evidence gathered from student surveys, classroom assessment techniques (CATs), & peer reviews of their teaching.
Questions for Reflection
One of the best routines I’ve ever created for myself was regularly journaling in response to big career questions. It has been helpful to create space to free write without fear of anyone seeing how I see my career evolving. It has inspired drafts of stronger teaching and faculty development philosophy statements, as well as the materials you see across my website. I encourage you to adopt this practice, revisiting the questions below occasionally as a personal inventory or check-in. Keep a record of all of your notes: I promise you’ll find value in looking back and comparing them!
And remember, before we can compose any polished, outward-facing language, we first have to articulate for ourselves the how and why of our scholarly teaching. If any especially poignant language or vignettes emerge, highlight them, even if they are half-baked at this stage. You may be able to repeat or revise this language in your teaching philosophy statement or other career documents or platforms.
Take stock of the ORCHID acronym. Which of the six qualities do you currently exhibit?
Make a list of the different ways you demonstrate or embody these qualities across your teaching practice (in the classroom, your course materials, & your teaching portfolio). If you feel that you only exhibit one or two, that’s okay! Part of being a critically reflective educator is being honest about our gaps and areas for growth.
Choose two letters from the ORCHID acronym. Which one seems most indicative of your practice, and which one is your weakest link?
You’ve hopefully noticed how the various qualities of scholarly teachers are interrelated. How can you use your strongest attribute to address the area that deserves more attention?
What are the challenges or roadblocks that may be preventing you from identifying as a scholarly teacher in this moment?
Your answer to this question generates your action steps. Is it a lack of time, attention, energy, or resources? Competing professional responsibilities? Take time to reflect on how exactly these barriers are impacting your ability to engage in scholarly teaching practices. If it’s a lack of confidence in your skills or knowledge, identify resources that you can consult before the semester starts. Seek out programs at your campus’s teaching & learning center or ones offered through a relevant professional organization. Make a list of three texts, short or long, that you can put at the top of your reading list.
Want to Learn More?
There are numerous resources available on scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning. In addition to looking for any resources provided by your institution, I recommend checking out:
The Center for Teaching & Learning at Indiana University, Indianapolis has an excellent scholarly teaching taxonomy with examples.
Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning has a page with videos discussing the difference between scholarly teaching & SoTL.
Looking for peer-reviewed scholarship? Check out Potter, Michael K. and Kustra, Erika D.H. (2011) "The Relationship between Scholarly Teaching and SoTL: Models, Distinctions, and Clarifications," International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Vol. 5: No. 1, Article 23. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2011.050123.
Interested in workshops that help you define your unique scholarly teaching brand and craft dynamic career documents? Branding Your Teaching Excellence can bring faculty development programming to your department or institution.
In the meantime, keep an eye on my On the Teaching Track blog. The next installments in this series will go more in-depth on the creativity and data that drive scholarly teaching!
As always, thanks for reading. If you have questions about any of my content or have ideas for collaboration, please contact me at gabrielle@gabriellestecher.com.
