The Enquiring University: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning as a Foundation for Strategic Educational Transformation

This chapter charts how in England, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) activities that may until recently have been seen as ‘marginal' or ‘added' value are increasingly viewed as strategic enablers. This is of potential interest to international audiences due to the growing and, arguably, unprecedented expectations placed on English universities to evidence the impact of their education through the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework. However, if SoTL is to become a fully functioning enabler of strategic transformation—rather than simply a cited exemplar or initiative—it needs to be systematically coordinated and evidenced. Drawing on a recently developed conceptual model—‘the enquiring university'—the chapter charts how the role and impact of SoTL can be coordinated, recorded, and evaluated through an emergent SoTL Strategic Implementation and Impact Framework. Finally, the authors illustrate its application through reference to an example of a SoTL activity aligned to two key elements of the framework