Developing Learning Technology Professionals in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): Insights from a Cross-Institutional Mentor Scholar Scheme

Debates are taking place in the higher education literature regarding the changing roles of learning technology professionals and their contributions to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Whilst much literature discusses motivations and barriers for these professionals in engaging with SoTL, less attention has been directed towards how such engagement might be nurtured and developed. This paper analyses an intervention project designed as a cross-institutional mentoring scheme which aimed to foster SoTL habits and skills in learning technology professionals. The mentor scholar scheme encompassed a series of online group meetings and one-on-one advisor meetings, involving 22 scholars and 18 advisors over a 12-month period. Data was collected using a range of methods including questionnaires and interviews. Our analysis uses Cultural–Historical Activity Theory to grasp the dynamics of the mentor scholar scheme and derive insights into how learning technology professionals attempt to engage with SoTL in their practice. The scheme developed in ways unanticipated by our original design. Key contradictions in the activity were evident through persistent difficulties for learning technology professionals in identifying as a scholar, finding a place within a broader scholarly community, developing a loyalty to scholarship, and positioning it against longstanding professional priorities. Nonetheless, participants viewed the scheme as successful, and we put forward considerable experience of how to mediate and address these issues. The paper contributes new perspectives on catalysing scholarly identity among professional staff in higher education, highlighting the importance of a scholarly community, understanding scholarship as distinct from professionalism, and suggesting that mentoring must be a relational and adaptive process.