Geographers and the scholarship of teaching and learning

ABSTRACT

In this paper we draw attention to the attributes and values which equip geographers to engage in the scholarship of teaching and learning. We begin by summarising key characteristics of geographers in higher education, synthesized from academic literature. We support our summary with comments from past editors of the Journal of Geography in Higher Education offered in answer to the question: “What is it about the geographer’s identity or modes and styles of research that helps you to undertake productive enquiry into teaching and learning?” We purposely select three papers from the journal in order to highlight the distinctive (though not exhaustive) nature and range of higher education scholarship that has been undertaken by geographers. These case studies enquire into fieldwork pedagogies, teaching-research links and inclusive student-faculty partnership. We summarise the key elements of these papers and inter-weave the voices of the authors as accompanying narratives explaining the intent and approach to their research, and examining how it is shaped by their identities as geographers. We consider the issues in higher education that geographers are likely to embrace in the future and conclude by reflecting on what this means for the individual and for the discipline.

KEYWORDS:

• Scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL)
• pedagogic research
• geography identity
• fieldwork
• teaching-research links
• student-faculty partnership