Reclaiming the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching: Why We Need to Learn About Learning Again

a stack of books — _{Photo by Sebastian Kuss on Unsplash}

“Universities are overflowing with experts in knowledge — but too few scholars of how knowledge is learned.”

In most universities, research is the key to success. Promotion policies, institutional rankings, and professional recognition all rely on metrics that reward discovery and publication. Journal articles serve as symbols of impact and credibility. None of this is inherently wrong, as research progresses knowledge, shapes disciplines, and benefits society.

But somewhere along the way, we’ve created a strange imbalance in higher education. In a sector dedicated to learning, the scholarship of learning and teaching (SoTL) has often become a secondary pursuit. It’s regarded as valuable, but peripheral.

The Research Reflex

Most academics enter higher education through the doorway of disciplinary expertise. We are hired for what we know, not necessarily for how we teach it. Few complete formal teaching qualifications before stepping into the classroom. Instead, it is common practice to learn to teach by doing. We improvise, observe, take advice from more experienced academics, and often repeat the practices we experienced as students.

Instead of developing our skills in this area, the institutional incentive structure pulls us elsewhere. Research output drives prestige and funding. Sometimes, we neglect teaching and learning improvements, only fitting them in between other deadlines. The result is an academic culture that celebrates publication over pedagogy.

This is also an issue for academics in teaching-focused roles. As they have significant teaching loads, this reduces their opportunities (and time) to complete research, which is seen as a marker of prestige and an important part of academia and promotions.

This isn’t a criticism of any individual academics. It’s a reflection of the higher education system they operate within. When career advancement depends on research, it’s natural that an individual would focus on it. However, from a learning and teaching point of view, the imbalance comes at a cost. If we don’t continually examine how we teach, we risk maintaining outdated practices and missing chances to improve learning, making it more relevant to the current educational landscape and student cohorts.

SoTL as Intellectual Work

The scholarship of learning and teaching isn’t just about tips or techniques. It’s about inquiry, it’s about applying the same rigour we use in disciplinary research to our learning and teaching practices. SoTL asks: What helps students learn? What hinders them? How do assessment, belonging, or feedback influence engagement? How do we design and develop our courses for scaffolded learning? There is so much to be explored.

These complex, context-rich questions merit scholarly focus. However, SoTL is often viewed as less serious or rigorous because its focus is on the classroom rather than the laboratory research. Some academics even dismiss it by saying, “That’s not research” when referring to SoTL. Maybe you are reading this and thinking the same. The irony is that SoTL, when done well, can be more demanding, as it deals with people, emotions, identity, and the intricacies of human learning.

Recognising SoTL as genuine scholarship redefines teaching as an intellectually rich and creative pursuit. It develops theory from practice and practice from theory. This is an essential part of higher education and remains its core focus on learning, so why is SoTL not regarded as important as research?

Professional Learning as Scholarly Practice

If we expect academics to be excellent teachers, we must also expect them to be learners. While ongoing examination in SoTL is important, so is professional learning. It should not be a one-off credential to “tick off” early in a career, but an ongoing, evolving practice that supports and is supported by SoTL.

Graduate Certificates in Higher Education provide a solid foundation and a structured space to explore pedagogy, assessment, and educational design. However, learning shouldn’t end there. Ongoing communities of practice, peer observation, and reflective writing can sustain teaching inquiry.

Teaching evolves as students and the world around us change. Heard of that AI thing? Similarly, our scholarship should also adapt to those changes. When professional learning is seen as fostering intellectual growth rather than just compliance, it becomes a vital part of an academic identity, not a disruption to it. This isn’t always the fault of the individual academic, but can also be caused by a lack of institutional support and the heavy emphasis on research.

The Missing Middle

Currently, the higher education system divides academics into two groups: “researchers” or “teachers.” In fact, we now employ academics according to these categories. However, true innovation lies in the space between them. SoTL bridges that gap by transforming teaching into a space of discovery. It encourages academics to see their classrooms not as static environments but as workshops for learning.

Integrating research habits into teaching allows us to question, experiment, and share our findings and evidence. This benefits both areas. When SoTL receives institutional backing rather than being optional for individuals, it changes the culture. It reminds us that research and learning are not opposing pursuits but two interconnected aspects of academia.

A Call to Rebalance

I’m not suggesting that Higher education needs to abandon research excellence, but I am arguing it needs to rebalance its definition of what constitutes excellence. The future of universities relies as much on how we teach as on what we discover.

Perhaps the next big innovation isn’t a new technology or ranking system, it’s a renewed commitment to the scholarship of learning and teaching. Because in the end, our greatest contribution to knowledge might not be what we publish, but what we help others learn.

Reflections

How did you learn to teach and when was the last time you intentionally studied your own teaching practice?
What would change if SoTL outputs and open education resources were equally valued in promotion and recognition?
How might professional learning in teaching become an ongoing habit rather than a one-off tick box requirement?
In what ways could your discipline’s research culture integrate questions about learning and pedagogy?
If your next publication aimed to help students learn, not just peers cite, what form might it take?