"In Things and in Minds": Scholarly Teachers' Struggles for Legitimacy in a Research-Oriented Institution

Authors

  • Deborah Kilgore University of Washington Author
  • Michelle D. Cook Iowa State University Author

Abstract

Despite numerous federally and privately funded initiatives to improve teaching in colleges and universities, research-oriented institutions continue to undervalue scholarly teaching. In this qualitative study, the authors examined how scholarly teachers in a research-oriented institution develop and maintain a focus on teaching and learning. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 8 faculty identified as scholarly teachers, participant observation, and document analysis. The pursuit of scholarly teaching emerges as a struggle for scholarly legitimacy in the face of institutional constraints, faculty members' limited vision of the possible, and the difficult process of incorporating new ways of knowing into cultural norms.

Published

2024-03-23