Engaging Research and Practice Professor Sally Brown University

Engaging Research and Practice Professor Sally Brown University of Stirling (Chair of the Education Panel in the 2002 RAE)

General Points about the HE Environment n n n Funding Council Income is greater for teaching than research, but income has been increased through RAE but not teaching quality In principle, benefits should accrue to student learning from high RAE rating In practice, a separation of teaching and research: latter has the status and former suffers in both high and low rated units In disciplines other than education, pedagogical research has lacked esteem Empirical work on T/R links: over-simplified variables, inconsistent findings

Questions we need to address n n n What is the role of research in HE? How important is it that all HE teaching staff are engaged in research? How dependent is high quality teaching on the continuance of the link with research? Does the “new” HE responsibility for knowledge transfer relate to teaching as well as research? How can research(knowledge production) and teaching (knowledge transfer and facilitation) work more closely and communicate effectively? Should we distinguish between “research” (original enquiry) and “scholarship” (systematic analysis for deep understanding of existing knowledge)?

n n n What distinguishes teaching in HE from teaching in other contexts is its relationship with research Both research and teaching benefit from that relationship The concept of teacher-researcher may be challenged in other sectors but not in HE

n What is to count as learning in HE Education Departments? n What is the nature of teaching that best supports that kind of learning? n What is to count as engagement between research and teaching?

1 What you teach is what you research. 2 Your teaching is consistently informed by critical analysis of research carried out by others. 3 You carry out research on teaching itself (yours and others’). 4 Teaching and learning grow out of scholarly work. 5 Teaching shapes research and practice.

n n n Research is the extension and advancement of knowledge and the basis of the institution’s intellectual climate: probing minds. Disciplined work that interprets, criticises, integrates ideas, brings new insights to research findings whether theoretical or empirical, and formulates larger intellectual patterns: seeking wisdom from knowledge. Making use of provisional knowledge and wisdom by applying it to teaching and learning: teaching as the highest form of understanding (Aristotle) but only when the teacher is intellectually engaged.

n n HE quality assurance systems should not be divided up into elements that scrutinise research and teaching separately. Holistic approaches that also explore the relationships between research and teaching would greatly benefit both aspects of academic activity. HE staff have a responsibility to extend the frontiers of knowledge and integrate ideas in order to communicate with and inspire students. One could be a researcher without being a teacher, but would be a better researcher if also a teacher. One cannot be a good HE teacher without engagement in research.