Finding the ‘tipping point’: A Framework for building an institutional learning community to improve learning and teaching

Universities are inherently learning communities in the broadest sense. Central to this and generally explicit in university mission statements are their goals in providing quality experiences for students. The scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) is a core element in the ongoing improvement of the student experience which embodies a valued scholarly research process. The idea of building an institution wide learning community with a focus on SoTL should therefore be at the heart of the university’s agenda and a relatively easy undertaking. Yet for a range of reasons it proves elusive in many institutions. This paper explores the underlying issues surrounding this challenge and identifies a range of factors which lay the foundation for building a SoTL learning community. It begins with an examination of the key concepts of SoTL, learning communities and structuralism to set the scene. The paper then examines key literature and existing data on SoTL and concludes with the presentation of a framework for building an institution wide learning community which supports the improvement of learning and teaching for students using a SoTL approach. What is the scholarship of teaching and learning and why is it important? The scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) refers to a systematic approach to reflecting on teaching practice to improve outcomes for students. There are many definitions and approaches to SoTL within the literature but the work of Boyer (1990) in relation to scholarship laid a solid foundation for further development. Boyer outlined four key elements of scholarship: discovery, integration, application and teaching. The language and approach used within SoTL approaches is akin to the research process. For example discovery, refers to the contribution of knowledge; integration to drawing on existing knowledge to develop new insights; application to being able to apply this and teaching to being able to extend knowledge through sharing (Williams, Goulding & Seddon, 2013). As Hutchings, Borin, Keesing-Styles, Martin, Michael, Scharff, Simkins and Ismail (2013) point out: In this, and in many definitions of SoTL generated in the years that followed, the emphasis was on intellectual work, on learning and teaching as areas for systematic study, and on a process of knowledge building. (p. 37) SoTL is therefore the scholarly approach applied to learning and teaching. It is not generally pure research but rather the application of research to learning and teaching with the intention being the improvement of teaching and learning and subsequently the student experience. Learning Communities | Special Issue: Narrative Inquiry | Number 18 – December 2015