University language teachers' scholarship of teaching and learning in a virtual professional learning community

Abstract

Scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), a concept that establishes research-teaching nexus, has emerged as a global movement to foster teacher learning in higher education over the last three decades. Grounded in SoTL conceptual framework with critically reflective inquiry, this study explored how a group of university English language teachers engaged in critical dialogues, collaborative lesson study and self-initiated research engagement in a virtual professional learning community. A netnography approach was adopted to collect various forms of data, including participant observations of online meetings, online semi-structured interviews, and documented online exchanges. A hermeneutic approach was taken to data analysis. The study identified a four-dimension SoTL mechanism of teacher learning and knowledge-building activities. The findings reveal that this mechanism nurtured teachers' inquiry mindset, enhanced collaborative inquiry, facilitated the implementation of changes in praxis and enabled their emancipation in the SoTL community. The study contributes to the research on SoTL practice and builds on existing understandings of the nexus between research and teaching. It also highlights the importance of the interplay between individual and collaborative research endeavours as effective means to facilitate teachers' inquiry-based learning in an expanded virtual community of peers.