• About WordPress
    • WordPress.org
    • Documentation
    • Support
    • Feedback
  • Log In
  • About
    • Mission
    • Board of Directors
    • Committees
    • Bylaws
    • Strategic Plan
    • Annual Reports
    • Administrative Centre Staff
    • Contact Us
  • Members
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Join or Renew
    • Get Involved
    • Awards
  • Opportunities
    • Interest Groups
    • The Conference
    • The Journal
    • International Collaborative Writing Groups
    • ISSOTL Fellows Program
    • Committees
    • Board of Directors
  • Events
    • Annual Conference
      • Conference Listing
  • Publications
    • Teaching & Learning Inquiry
    • ISSOTL Blog
  • Updates
    • Blog
    • News
    • Jobs
    • ISSOTL Social Media
    • Become a Member
    • Log in
International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL)
  • About
    • Mission
    • Board of Directors
    • Committees
    • Bylaws
    • Strategic Plan
    • Annual Reports
    • Administrative Centre Staff
    • Contact Us
  • Members
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Join or Renew
    • Get Involved
    • Awards
  • Opportunities
    • Interest Groups
    • The Conference
    • The Journal
    • International Collaborative Writing Groups
    • ISSOTL Fellows Program
    • Committees
    • Board of Directors
  • Events
    • Annual Conference
      • Conference Listing
  • Publications
    • Teaching & Learning Inquiry
    • ISSOTL Blog
  • Updates
    • Blog
    • News
    • Jobs
    • ISSOTL Social Media
    • Become a Member
    • Log in

Blog

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Blog
  • ISSOTL 2020 Fellows Spotlight – Pat Maher

ISSOTL 2020 Fellows Spotlight – Pat Maher

  • Posted by Beth Atkinson
  • Categories Blog
  • Date June 11, 2021
  • Comments 0 comment

Pat Maher
Dean of Teaching and Professor of Physical and Health Education
Nipissing University
Canada

What drew you to SoTL? I’m not exactly sure what drew me to SoTL; I sort of feel like I was always there.  Since I was an undergraduate student, I’ve felt the inherent connection between disciplinary research and the need for strong engagement with teaching and learning.  Teaching and research were interconnected in the School of Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism at Lakehead University, and that ethos followed me through my PhD at Lincoln University in New Zealand.  I remember others criticizing the teaching load I carried as a postgraduate student, even though I had a substantial international scholarship financially supporting my work.  There was just something about it that felt “right”; aligning my praxis and walking the talk.

When I came back to Canada, I knew I needed to find a place where my teaching expression and innovation would be as valued as my research endeavors – and I found that at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC).  Having left UNBC a number of years ago now, I’ve still chosen to teach and inspire from smaller, more liberal arts-types of universities – having felt they were a place that I could teach well, in unique ways, and study the ways in which my teaching impacted learners. Places I could be the role model I sought.

What does being an ISSOTL Fellow mean to you? For me, being an ISSOTL Fellow is about joining a “family”; a place where like-minded individuals can come together and share ideas and opportunities.  I think I’d liken it to an international smorgasbord – we all come to the table with our own cultures, flavors, etc. and we share (or load up our plate) with respect and generosity. I think my view of the ISSOTL Fellowship comes partly from my experience with the Canadian 3M National Teaching Fellowship.  Having been named a 3M NTF in 2014, I’ve seen how that national community has nurtured me.  So I guess my appetite was there to find an international cohort of colleagues – those beyond my own research discipline, where I see tremendous comraderie, but have also felt a bit of interdisciplinary tension.

So for me being an ISSOTL Fellow is both a recognition of the past and an inspiration towards the future.  Now that I’m a Dean I can provide many more opportunities to junior colleagues, students, staff; however, I still yearn for growth and mentorship too. 

What advice would you give to ISSOTL members looking to better engage others in SoTL? I’d say it comes down to roughly four key items:

  1. be open (to whatever comes your way, whether that’s projects, funding, speaking engagements, etc.);
  2. be transparent (folks value your input if they know it’s genuine and from the heart;
  3. be equitable (for me this is probably the most difficult – as a white, middle-aged, heterosexual male from a wealthy first-world country; but I can recognize my privilege and need to account for it, but also provide tremendous ally-ship because of it);
  4. be flexible and compassionate (this is especially true over the past 18 months, but has been a starting point for my work since the beginning). 

As a new administrator, vs. a long-time faculty member; the road has changed slightly now that some consider me to have “crossed over to the dark side”, but I’m still the same educator, researchers, husband, father… the same human I’ve always been.  In fact, now I have more responsibility to grow Teaching and Learning farther beyond myself.

  • Share:
author avatar
Beth Atkinson

Previous post

Call for Applications for an Associate Editor
June 11, 2021

Next post

ISSOTL Fellows Program: Call for Co-Facilitators
August 5, 2021

You may also like

EdVee+Blog+Image
EdVee: A Visual Diagnostic and Course Design Tool for Constructive Alignment
27 January, 2023
75079_image
Searching and Reviewing the Literature on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): An Academic Literacies Perspective Parts 1 & 2
27 January, 2023
69375_image
A Pedagogy of Slow: Integrating Experiences of Physical and Virtual Gallery Spaces to Foster Critical Engagement in SoTL
26 January, 2023

Leave A Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Search

Categories

  • Blog
  • Jobs
  • News
  • Teaching & Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal Content

Archives

  • January 2023 (7)
  • December 2022 (1)
  • November 2022 (1)
  • October 2022 (6)
  • September 2022 (2)
  • August 2022 (4)
  • July 2022 (5)
  • June 2022 (4)
  • May 2022 (2)
  • April 2022 (2)
  • March 2022 (9)
  • February 2022 (7)
  • January 2022 (6)
  • December 2021 (4)
  • November 2021 (4)
  • October 2021 (2)
  • September 2021 (1)
  • August 2021 (1)
  • June 2021 (1)
  • May 2021 (2)
  • April 2021 (1)
  • March 2021 (2)
  • February 2021 (5)
  • January 2021 (2)
  • December 2020 (4)
  • October 2020 (3)
  • September 2020 (2)
  • August 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (4)
  • April 2020 (1)
  • March 2020 (3)
  • January 2020 (2)
  • November 2019 (5)
  • October 2019 (31)
  • September 2019 (3)
  • July 2019 (1)
  • April 2019 (3)
  • March 2019 (27)
  • January 2019 (2)
  • November 2018 (2)
  • October 2018 (6)
  • August 2018 (1)
  • July 2018 (1)
  • June 2018 (2)
  • May 2018 (9)
  • March 2018 (1)
  • January 2018 (3)
  • December 2017 (2)
  • November 2017 (1)
  • October 2017 (3)
  • September 2017 (2)
  • August 2017 (5)
  • June 2017 (4)
  • May 2017 (2)
  • April 2017 (2)
  • March 2017 (3)
  • February 2017 (2)
  • January 2017 (4)
  • November 2016 (3)
  • October 2016 (4)
  • September 2016 (1)
  • August 2016 (1)
  • May 2016 (1)
  • April 2016 (3)
  • March 2016 (1)
  • February 2016 (3)
  • January 2016 (1)
  • December 2015 (3)
  • November 2015 (6)
  • August 2015 (1)
  • July 2015 (1)
  • June 2015 (2)
  • May 2015 (2)
  • April 2015 (1)
  • February 2015 (2)
  • January 2015 (3)
  • December 2014 (2)
  • November 2014 (1)
  • August 2014 (1)
  • May 2014 (1)
  • April 2014 (1)
  • January 2014 (3)
  • December 2013 (3)
  • November 2013 (1)

ISSOTL

© 2023 International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) All rights reserved.

Contact Us

MENU

ABOUT

MEMBERS

OPPORTUNITIES

EVENTS

PUBLICATIONS

UPDATES

Facebook Twitter Linkedin Youtube

Web Design by Clio Websites. Powered by WordPress.

Login with your site account

Lost your password?