Using personal and academic development to reconcile research with learning and teaching in a model for scholarship in higher education

Abstract

This thesis traces the contested scholarship between the three activity topics of learning and teaching, research and academic and professional development. 11 published articles and 7 others that have been prepared for publication were used as exemplar articles for analysis. This included the history and context of the writing and the way in which the three topics hold together and the patterns or relationships that can be seen between them. Most of the articles aim to bring something new to the public arena and challenge the current status quo in Higher Education. The Learning and Teaching articles show active ways of developing learning and seeing things in a new light rather than absorbing knowledge, constructing or working from educational theory. In particular a curriculum is defined for all stakeholders. There is no necessity for teaching and learning to be the same as research but on occasion it helps for it to be “research like”. Research articles are on collaborative qualitative research and detailed reviews of scientific research in my discipline. In my educational research articles I stand up to the dominance of subject-based research. Development articles articulate the practice and facilitation of individual and group reflection methods. They also further the networking, pan-organisation, pro-person approach of academic developers. The analysis produces a dynamic model for Higher Education scholarship that opens up space for academic development and the neglected area of professional and personal development. In particular, some articles articulate and demonstrate the role of academic developers in evaluating research. There is no evidence for the need of a single nexus to fulfil a magical link specifically between learning and teaching and research because links already exist within academic and professional development and through existing border subjects of curriculum, reflection, professional ethics and evaluation. I am grateful for the guidance I have received to create this analysis of my written work. From this it is possible to position myself academically as a developer.