Conditions for contingent instructors engaged in the scholarship of teaching and learning
Date
2017
Authors
Vander Kloet, Marie
Frake-Mistak, Mandy
McGinn, Michelle K.
Caldecott, Marion
Aspenlieder, Erin D.
Beres, Jacqueline L.
Fukuzawa, Sherry
Cassidy, Alice
Gill, Apryl
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Abstract
An increasingly large number of courses in Canadian postsecondary institutions are taught by contingent instructors who hold full- or part-time positions for contractually limited time periods. Despite strong commitments to advancing teaching and learning, the labour and employment conditions for contingent instructors affect the incentives and possibilities for them to engage in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Through a collaborative writing inquiry, the 9 authors examine the influences of three key conditions of contingency: institutional knowledge, status, and role; invisibility and isolation; and precarity. Four composite stories demonstrate the ways varied conditions of contingency may play out in contingent instructors’ lives and typically undermine the possibilities for them to pursue SoTL. Institutions present contingent instructors with a mixed message: research and SoTL are desirable and frequently encouraged, yet contingent instructors are often ineligible or hindered from engagement.
Description
Keywords
scholarship of teaching and learning, contingent instructors, sessional instructors, Canadian postsecondary education, writing as method of inquiry
Citation
Vander Kloet, M.; Frake-Mistak, M.; McGinn, M. K.; Caldecott, M.; Aspenlieder, E. D.; Beres, J. L.; Fukuzawa, S.; Cassidy, A.; & Gill, A. (2017). Conditions for contingent instructors engaged in the scholarship of teaching and learning. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2017.2.9