Abstract
In 2019, we hosted an “Advancing your scholarly teaching into the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL)” session at the ITAA Annual Meeting. As long-term SoTL authors and proponents, we were inspired by participants’ excitement about discovering more about the teaching and learning documentation process. Taking the time to interact with teaching scholars revealed the need for manuscripts focused on SoTL. At the time of this publication, over 15 years have passed since the Clothing and Textiles Research Journal (CTRJ) offered a special issue dedicated to SoTL research (2005). Despite that groundbreaking issue, very few peer-reviewed SoTL articles have been published in CTRJ since that time, ranging from zero in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021 to a high of 4 publications in 2011. Given this data, we are excited to offer this issue as a step toward reversing the shortage of resources supporting teaching and learning in textiles and apparel.
SoTL goes beyond excellent or scholarly teaching. It bridges institutional and faculty members’ values of teaching and research and involves a systematic, intentional process of investigating teaching and learning. SoTL research is similar to disciplinary research in that it often begins with a research question, necessitates a careful review of the existing literature, a selection of methods, and then a rigorous analysis of the (often mixed-methods) data (Bishop-Clark & Dietz-Uhler, 2012). Like other forms of scholarship, SoTL researchers make their findings public such that "it becomes an object of critical review and evaluation by members of one's community; and members of one's community begin to use, build upon, and develop those acts of mind and creation" (Hutchins & Shulman, 1999, p. 15). SoTL enhances, develops, and informs teaching practices that can positively influence faculty, students, departments, and disciplines within and beyond a single institution (McKinney, 2007). In this issue, CTRJ makes public (again!) that strong teaching and SoTL are foundational components of ITAA professional scholarship and practice.
In addition to improving the quality of teaching within the academy, SoTL can help promote the quality of an apparel program to diverse stakeholders. Increasingly, higher education faces intense internal and external scrutiny (Schwartz, 2021). Students pay substantial dollars in tuition, making education a commodity that requires heavy investment and can result in decades-long debt. Trends toward accountability to stakeholders (including students and their families, governmental leaders, and higher education administrators) require that we document our successes and establish plans for addressing areas where improvement is needed. SoTL provides a means for instructors, regardless of faculty status—tenure track, instructional, research-active, and clinical—to find a role in studying, documenting, and improving our courses, curriculum, and discipline. We must continue to demonstrate the research informing our teaching practices.
In recent years and over several decades, our teaching environments have changed dramatically. Advances in technology impacting the textiles, apparel, fashion, and retail industry have influenced the content of what we teach and the pedagogical practices we implement. Furthermore, we live in a world where diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility are increasingly given the respect and value they deserve, with greater attention paid to our students’ social-emotional development, sense of belonging, and well-being. Increased polarization within the United States and global conflicts makes developing critical thinking, conflict resolution, and communication skills even more important. Simply understanding the triple bottom line, addressing sustainability, and building content knowledge are no longer satisfactory enough in educating our students. Advances in our knowledge and recognition for effective teaching and learning strategies are paramount in preparing students for the world stage.
As if these industry and global realities were insufficient to warrant a revisiting of SoTL in our research activities, the switch to virtual learning because of Covid-19 restrictions required all educators to re-think, re-frame, re-invent, re-imagine, and re-launch their work. It was very shortly after the 2019 Annual Meeting that the world stopped. As stores, businesses, schools, and universities shuttered to wait out what many of us thought would be a temporary closure, we in higher education quickly pivoted in-person learning to virtual environments. Although many classes are now meeting in person, the way we teach is forever changed as distinctions between face-to-face, hybrid and online modalities shrink. Our call for papers coincided with the global pandemic, providing the opportunity to investigate the new challenges and opportunities associated with virtual learning.
ITAA members heeded the call to contribute meaningful scholarship to SoTL in CTRJ. This issue contains articles on product development, retailing, sustainability, textiles, historical dress, consumption issues, and social justice, which mirrors our disciplinary diversity. The authors studied teaching and learning strategies in face-to-face and virtual classes ranging from very small to extremely large. Contributors range from single author to multi-institutional representation. As you read about the research activities in the articles on this issue, we invite you to think about how you will conduct SoTL work that will comprise the next ongoing stream of literature. What teaching or student learning questions do you have that warrant an investigation and then sharing your findings? We aim to generate interest and enthusiasm for SoTL so that a special issue is not needed to advance its scholarship in the decade ahead.