Theory: The Elephant in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Room

Excerpt: November, 2006 marked the third annual meeting of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and it was another blockbuster, with 850 participants, a rich array of sessions, the “Commons@ISSoTL” for informal exchange and sharing of resources, and a true international feel. As in past years, the conference also provided a window into the character and progress of the work, and a chance to ask where we are, what has been accomplished, and where we’re going. These questions leave room for considerable disagreement, of course. As in the parable of the blind men and the elephant, the scholarship of teaching and learning can look quite different depending on which parts of the conference anatomy one grabbed hold of. Even so (and with apologies for shifting tropes), I doubt that I was alone in seeing the role of theory in the scholarship of teaching and learning as the elephant in the room.