Effects of the performance management context on Australian academics’ engagement with the scholarship of teaching and learning: a pilot study

In the context of increased demands for excellence in all areas, academic promotion and tenure is now directly linked to achievement of measurable outputs in all areas of performance. In a work environment characterised by high workloads, competing expectations and reduced resources, academics must increasingly demonstrate active engagement with the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). For many, this may mean adopting new cultures, methodologies, theories, languages and modes of enquiry outside their home or cognate discipline. In the context of performance management, academics must reconceptualise and articulate notions of ‘good academic practice’, often in parallel with the practical requirement to continue to teach in the culture and practices of their cognate discipline. We need to better understand the implications, for institutions and individuals, of approaching SoTL through the lens of performance evaluation. This paper reports the key themes from a pilot study examining how academics at an Australian university are responding to the emergence of SoTL in the performance management context.