On the Margins of SoTL Discourse: An Asian Perspective

Chng, Huang Hoon; Looker, Peter

doi:10.20343/teachlearninqu.1.1.131

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The Asia-Pacific membership is currently dominated more by "Pacific" than "Asia" scholars, the latter being relatively newer arrivals to the SoTL scene. In considering "what works" (Hutchings, 2000), it has been argued that it is critically important to actively consider the matter of context, or "what works where" (Chng, 2015;Chng & Looker, 2013). Classrooms and students in Asia are just as heterogeneous as classrooms and students anywhere in the world, if not even more diverse given the ethnic and cultural complexities in the Asia landscape.…”

Section: Case 1: Singapore and Sotl-asiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Distance from mainstream SoTL centers adds further to the isolation, even as distance affords the space for self-determination (Chng & Looker, 2013). Colleagues in the Asia-Pacific region (Middle East and Africa, too) often have to travel thousands of miles to SoTL conferences held in the Europe and North America: that is how far we in Asia have to go just to connect with experts in mainstream SoTL.…”

Section: Discourses Voices and Isolationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Leading change from different shores: The challenges of contextualizing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Chng

Mårtensson

2020

TLI

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This article offers narratives of individual journeys through the scholarship of leading in three different contexts—Asia, Europe, and Africa. Together, these narratives argue for the need to make explicit the diversity of practices of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), with each practice inextricably tied to specific geographical, sociocultural, and political contexts. In offering these contextual specificities, we call on all who engage in SoTL to exercise reflexivity in thought, language, and action—to actively foreground our mental models and assumptions about SoTL and what it looks like for ourselves and for others; to sensitively engage scholars who do not share our context; and to strive toward an inclusive mindset and practice that will situate all of us within the “international” of an international organization. We highlight the problems of language, meaning, and translation; and the challenge scholars from “different shores” face in engaging with “other” shores.

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Section: Case 1: Singapore and Sotl-asiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discourses Voices and Isolationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leading change from different shores: The challenges of contextualizing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Chng

Mårtensson

2020

TLI

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“…'Peripheral' SOTL, however, is always marked and contextualised. As we have pointed out elsewhere (Chng & Looker 2013), there is an interesting difference between the titles of a number of significant books on learning:…”

Section: Sotl In the South 2(1): April 2018 Lookermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A critical history of SOTL might reveal more about why SOTL developed in a particular culture and location (Maheux-Pelletier et al 2017;Chng & Looker 2013). Chakrabarty's Provincializing Europe (2000) can provide the framework to 'provincialise SOTL'.…”

Section: Provincialising Sotlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contextualising contexts – Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and cultural difference

Looker

2018

Sotls

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SOTL has an originary moment and a well-rehearsed history. It has been constructed as an approach to understanding teaching and learning with a focus on reflective practice to improve practice and student learning, but it excludes sociocultural influences. This paper argues that by concentrating on the ‘classroom’, and cognitive measures of success, SOTL conforms to a Western view of what is valuable in education. This instrumentalist perspective allows the process of SOTL to seem universally applicable. It is argued that this instrumentalist approach is a black-box perspective, analogous to the black box of the mind seen in behaviourism. Using Chakrabarty’s notion of “provincializing Europe”, some structural elements of SOTL history are analysed with an eye to provincialising SOTL. Following this, a personal teaching experience across two cultures is described to demonstrate the inability of SOTL to comprehend the behaviour of students across different cultures without providing more contextual information. Differences between East Asian and Western views of cognition are presented to suggest that cultural differences in conceptions of learning have a significant effect on what happens in the classroom. In conclusion, if SOTL is to be meaningful internationally, it needs both to embrace and be explicit about sociocultural influences and, crucially, it needs to be decentred from Western hegemonic practice. How to cite this article: LOOKER, Peter. Contextualising contexts – Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and cultural difference. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South, v. 2, n. 1, p. 112-128, Apr. 2018. Available at: http://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=32 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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“…aspects of teaching and learning, be subject to different pressures, and affect international collaboration. Chng and Looker (2013) argue that discussion around teaching and learning is not free from cultural contexts, and practitioners need to consider cultural context and "what works where" when undertaking SoTL. Manarin and Abrahamson (2016, 1), discussing SoTL with practitioners from the US and the UK, note that practitioners "identified competing visions of education both in terms of disciplinary practices and institutional demands."…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supporting SoTL Development through Communities of Practice

Tierney¹,

Aidulis

Park

et al. 2020

TLI

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Increasingly, academics are engaging with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). However, within United Kingdom higher education, the definition of and activities that constitute SoTL remain open to debate. In this article, we explore SoTL through four career histories that give insight into how SoTL has developed and played a role in the careers of four life sciences-based, teaching-focused academics in UK universities at different points in their careers. The recurring themes in the career histories include collaboration; professional development; sharing and dissemination; and funding. The career histories also highlight aspects of and the importance of communities of practice. We reflect on the role of communities of practice in supporting SoTL and discuss how communities of practice external to one’s home institution can play a role in developing SoTL and teaching practice. Internationally there is a growing focus on SoTL, and although the four career histories presented here are authored by academics based in UK institutions and focused on the UK context, the themes they reveal are widely applicable.

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On the Margins of SoTL Discourse: An Asian Perspective

Cited by 14 publications

References 29 publications

Leading change from different shores: The challenges of contextualizing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Leading change from different shores: The challenges of contextualizing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Contextualising contexts – Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and cultural difference

Supporting SoTL Development through Communities of Practice

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