Goals for Future Development
Participation in the Faculty Certificate Program for Leadership in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning has whetted my appetite for this sort of research work. I am committed to be a scholar of teaching and learning—more than an educator whose practice is scholarly informed.
When I applied for this program I had to decide whether focus on my teaching practice or my management role in CTLT for my research project. In fact, that distinction is not accurate: by focusing on doing a SoTL project on my own teaching I am also serving the interests of my role in CTLT. I liaise with members of the UBC teaching and learning community on a daily basis. I—all of us at CTLT, in fact—are viewed by many as educational leaders. Our recommendations, suggestions and mentorship has impact. So my decision to focus on what I teach was strategic in relation to curriculum: I am now able to describe as an insider to the process how a SoTL project can be developed.
There has been a convergence between my dual roles and SoTL as of late. Moving forward I have the following goals:
- Develop a structured, flexible SoTL initiative for CTLT staff, with workshops and mentoring program
- Get BREB approval for, conduct, and publish the results from my SoTL project
- Identify focal points in CTLT programs and services where the value of SoTL can be messaged
- Integrate more purposefully, a longer-term (5 year) SoTL plan for myself as a researcher.
These will doubtless provide numerous challenges—not the least of which is carving some time into my workload so these are part of my workload (rather than the “off the side of my desk” approach that currently is the norm). But the opportunities they present wholly outweigh the challenges.