Counterstory Pedagogy: Student Letters of Resilience, Healing, and Resistance

Edited by Adriana Aldana

Counterstory Pedagogy showcases the richness of experiences and self-reflection that result from engaging students in counterstory letter writing. The anthology includes a collection of epistolary essays written by Master of Social Work (MSW) graduate students.  Student letters speak to various social justice issues (e.g., educational inequity, immigration, poverty, racism, etc.) and are organized around three themes: childhood resilience, intergenerational healing, and envisioning resistance.

In addition to student essays, the book’s introduction orients the reader to the origins of student writings and gives a theoretical overview of “counterstory pedagogy.” Rooted in critical race theory (CRT), counterstories/counternarratives challenge dominant ideologies and centers race and racism in the analysis of interactions. It is committed to social justice through transformative responses to oppression and advocates for the leveraging of the experiences through counterstory-telling narratives that bring voice to students of color. The final chapter offers a discussion of implications for higher education, including effective practices for teaching and curriculum design considerations.

The SoTL Guide: An Introduction to Doing and Understanding the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

by Nancy Chick, Peter Felten, and Katarina Mårtensson

The SoTL Guide is a practical, accessible, and engaging book that explicitly guides readers through clear steps to develop their own scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) project. The book is applicable to readers from across disciplines, nations, career stages, and familiarity with SoTL through clear language, defined terms, uncovered assumptions, and practical, illustrative examples. The authors invite readers to share an expansive and inclusive view of what “doing SoTL” might mean, which they see as beginning before even thinking about a project and extending well after a project is “finished.”

The book is also more than a step-by-step manual for doing SoTL; it will help readers more broadly understand what SoTL is and does, and why. The book explores the important, intermediate aspect of improvement in SoTL: the improvement of oneself as a professional academic teacher, of one’s teaching practices, and most importantly of one’s students’ learning. The authors argue for the important “going public” part of SoTL as an act of good will and generosity—as potential for collective improvement.

Being and Becoming a Teaching and Learning Scholar in Higher Education

Edited by Janice Miller-Young and Nancy L. Chick

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), a multidisciplinary field that focuses on systematic investigation in teaching and learning, is now over 30 years old. No longer just a grassroots movement of individual faculty committed to taking teaching and learning seriously, SoTL has become professionalized. Being and Becoming a SoTL Scholar maps out what it looks like to be a SoTL scholar and how to get there by design.

Becoming a SoTL scholar involves reckoning with one’s academic identity, since SoTL occupies a kind of “borderland” or liminal space outside of traditional disciplines. For faculty members who become interested in SoTL, this new space is typically disorienting at first, as the scholar grows from these initial moments to ultimately finding a place in the SoTL community. This book explores what happens after that phase, after one has come to embrace the identity of a SoTL scholar. It describes the traits that determine one’s credibility and expertise as a SoTL scholar, and delves into the ongoing collaborations, research groups, and networks that form much of that necessary SoTL community.  The book also explores the possibilities for students and early-career colleagues who choose SoTL as their primary career path. Additionally, at the other end of the spectrum, our book also addresses how mid- and later-career SoTL scholars might maintain meaningful engagement and make lasting contributions to the field.

Ultimately, Being a SoTL Scholar illustrates the different entry points offered by SoTL and provide inspiring narratives, practical advice, and aspirational proposals for the different aspects of being a SoTL scholar.