Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) communities of practice (CoP) have emerged as collaborative learning environments that unite people with a shared interest. However, forming and maintaining a successful SoTL CoP can be challenging, requiring careful planning and execution. As academics, we encounter various universal problems and challenges in our teaching and learning practices, particularly in a discipline-focused environment. Researching these challenges is the obvious path to finding answers. However, many discipline-focused academics are unsure of where to begin or how to conduct research on their teaching and learning. As novice SoTL researchers, we established a SoTL CoP in 2021. We used Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR) principles to form and function our CoP. After two years of successfully maintaining our SoTL CoP, we analysed the data gathered during our meetings. We identified four main themes: Unity in diversity, maximising collaborative potential, nurturing collaboration, and navigating success. We used these themes to compile guidelines for successfully forming and maintaining a SoTL CoP. Implementing these guidelines within a discipline-focused environment will support the development of a collaborative and supportive environment for the advancement of SoTL practices. By prioritising these guidelines, a CoP can thrive, fostering a collaborative and cohesive community where members actively participate, share their expertise, and contribute to collective growth within SoTL. Photo created using DALLE-3, 2024.

The unemployment rate of graduate students in South Africa (SA) has increased more than 4% in the past 10 years. This increase can be ascribed to the current economic situation as well as the unemployability of these students. The focus was to determine the graduate attributes (skills and competencies that make students employable) required in entry-level recreation professionals in SA. A ranking-type Delphi study design was used, consisting of three iterations. Ten experts from the public, non-profit and private recreation sectors whose organizations employ entry-level recreation professionals were asked to rank the graduate attributes most required in students, and evaluate the relevance of graduate attributes for a SA context. Data were analzsed using descriptive statistics and inductive coding. “Passion for the profession”, “trainability and a willingness to learn” and “communication skills” were the top-ranked attributes. Clear differences were found in the expectations from SA graduates compared with United States graduates. “Creativity”, “ability to work with groups” and “conflict management” were added for the SA context. These results clarified what is expected of graduates entering recreation careers in SA, and it is therefore crucial that institutions preparing recreation students focus on these attributes in their programmes to enhance graduate employability.

The South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical education and Recreation (SAJRSPER)

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is an emerging focus within South Africa (SA). In Human Movement Sciences (HMS) in SA, research is primarily discipline-specific, and many researchers are unfamiliar with SoTL. To explore how we (as HMS lecturers) could integrate SoTL into our research, we formed a community of practice (CoP). The SoTL unicycle depiction of Swart et al. (2016) suited our visual analogy since the focus of HMS is on the human body that is in motion. For us, the unicycle represented HMS SoTL in motion. Swart et al. (2016) viewed the SoTL movement as an academic’s individual journey, whereas we saw SoTL from a CoP perspective. Therefore, we adapted the unicycle into a tandem bicycle, representing our collaborative engagements. Participatory action learning and action research (PALAR) formed our theoretical framework. Through our dialogue, each tandem wheel’s focus emerged. The back wheel was about deciding to SoTL (or not). This became a linchpin of our critical dialogue during the relationship-building phase of our CoP. Once we committed, we needed to learn how to keep our CoP moving forward. This became the middle wheel of our tandem bicycle. Next, the front wheel and handlebar became our guide into what the future of SoTL would be for us. The tandem bicycle, therefore, represents our collective cycles of learning as we became SoTL researchers. We believe our learning can support others transitioning from discipline-specific research to engaging in SoTL. *Please note that this poster is best viewed in Adobe on a computer/laptop for interactivity. Click here to read the corresponding ISSOTL blog post.