Sharing good teaching practice: the scholarship of teaching

The article "Recognising excellent teachers" noted the importance of sharing good teaching practice with others. An important mechanism to share these is through the scholarship of teaching. This final article explores the scholarship of teaching.

Most measures of excellence in teaching include a criterion related to the scholarship of teaching. Why is scholarship important? How does it enhance one's teaching expertise?

Boyer (1990) first elaborated on the idea of a scholarship of teaching and learning and today it is much discussed and debated, including in previous editions of ITL. "The scholarship of teaching and learning invites faculty [academic staff] to examine their own classroom practice, document what works, and share lessons learned in ways that others can build on" (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching). Even though we recognise teaching excellence through awards and promotion, much of the good practice of teaching and learning engaged in by individual academics "is lost to the larger academic community because it is private, undocumented, and untested" (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching).

Sharing of good practice and the evidence that establishes good practice is fundamental to the continuing development and enhancement of university teaching. This is no different to the dissemination of the research which advances our own disciplines.

Smith (2001) draws an interesting distinction between teaching, scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning. This distinction can be used to demonstrate how teaching excellence can be recognised at three different levels. At the lowest level, excellence recognises effective teaching, that is, the use of basic strategies that promote student learning. The second level recognises scholarly teaching, that is, teachers who demonstrate knowledge about student learning, are reflective in their practice and use feedback to improve their teaching.

At the highest level, teaching excellence recognises teachers who engage in a scholarship of teaching and learning, that is, teachers who contribute to a "developing body of knowledge about teaching and learning" (Smith, 2000, p. 53). It could be argued that teaching excellence is best measured at this third and highest level.

Do we have a responsibility to share our good teaching practice with others? The deliberate inquiry into our teaching contributes to the multiple sources of evidence that we use to evaluate the effectiveness of our teaching. It provides a basis on which we can further develop and enhance our teaching practice. Equally important is that we are contributing to the body of knowledge about teaching and learning that is shared by the wider academic community and most importantly, this new evidence can be used to enhance the learning outcomes of students beyond our own classroom.

• Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning. Leadership for the scholarship of teaching and learning. Retrieved October 4, 2004 from http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/CASTL/highered/
  docs/CarnegieCASTLBrochure2003.pdf
• Smith, R. (2001). Formative evaluation and the scholarship of teaching and learning. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 88. p. 51 - 62. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.