Led by guest Laura Stinson – @lstinson81

Over the last few years, I have been supporting colleagues in developing their own scholarship and what that might look like. For me, scholarship can take many forms and helping colleagues to take those first steps and seeing that what they are doing is in fact scholarship can sometimes be the revelation that they need! I talk a lot about ‘Everyday Scholarship’ and the idea that colleagues can be doing little things that they maybe don’t realise are actually making a difference and then how they can take those little nuggets and build them into something bigger in terms of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL).  

We can sometimes get bogged down in complex explanations of what something means and going back to basics is perhaps where we need to start. I had a bit of a revelation one day while driving home from work and listening to a podcast about SoTL. The same words seemed to keep coming up when having conversations with colleagues and while listening to the podcast. The words that kept coming to my mind about SoTL were Passion, People, Place and Plan. As a result, I created The Four Pillars of SoTL! 

When thinking about SoTL I believe that it starts with where your passion lies. Here are some key questions that guide my thinking around that. What is it that brings me joy and what would I like to take forward in terms of my SoTL? 

We then need to think about the people involved in SoTL projects. Who is my tribe? Who will help me to take this forward? 

We also need to think about where the project is going to take place? Is it locally within the institution or is it wider than that?  

Finally, we need a plan! Building a plan from the beginning will really help you to navigate your way through any SoTL project.  

These Four Pillars are a great starting point for getting your SoTL thinking caps on and building your projects. If you want to see a visual representation of the Four Pillars of SoTL you can find it on the National Teaching Repository (NTR). 

During this #LTHEchat, I encourage you to discuss and explore what these Four Pillars of SoTL mean to you and how you could use them to encourage colleagues to get started or keep going with their SoTL.   

References:  

Fanghanel, J., Pritchard, J., Potter., J. and Wisker, G. (2016) Defining and supporting the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): a sector-wide study. York: Higher Education Academy. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/defining-and-supporting-scholarship-teaching-and-learning-sotl-sector-wide-study  

Utrecht Roadmap for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (UR-SoTL), https://www. uu.nl/en/education/centre-for-academic-teaching/educational-scholarship/scholarship-of-teaching-and-learning/utrecht-roadmap-for-scholarship-ofteaching-and-learning or https://tinyurl.com/2wfz2p43  

Biography:

Laura Stinson works as a Senior Academic Practice Developer within the Centre for Academic Development and Quality (CADQ) at Nottingham Trent University. She leads the Trent Institute for Learning and Teaching (TILT) community which involves leading on all TILT Schemes & Awards, TILT Practice & Scholarship Groups and the NTU Annual Learning & Teaching Conference. Laura also supports the development of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at NTU providing development opportunities for colleagues as they progress through their career at NTU.