Call for International Collaborative Writing Group Leaders 2023

We invite applications for group leaders to facilitate a group for the 2023 International Collaborative Writing Groups (ICWGs) that is scheduled to take place in Utrecht, The Netherlands, as part of ISSOTL23. The ICWGs bring together academics (faculty, staff, and students) to co-author articles on teaching and learning topics of shared interest from an international perspective.

We are looking to recruit group leaders for approximately 5-7 writing groups for this ICWG. Applications are due by 6^th February.

Application Details

Background

The theme for ISSOTL 2023 Conference (Context Matters) provides a significant shift in conceptualising what matters most using context as a catalyst for engaging in conversation, debate and advances in SoTL. Foregrounding the learning experience, SoTL focusses on what matters (Felten et al., 2016) by modelling a common set of commitments that serve to define and enhance student learning. These commitments can be sub-divided into six core themes.

Learning Matters: represents a spectrum from student to institutional learning, by adapting to change and repositioning the core challenges inherent in the higher education landscape.
Relationship Matters: expands the importance of connected learning experiences across curricular and professional domains. This supports how students develop co-created partnerships with staff to resolve problems and develop employability skills.
Expectations Matters: outlines the relevance of carefully considered expectation outcomes so that students and staff understand requirements and outcomes.
Alignment Matters: emphasises the importance of structural and contextual alignment of institutional policy, learning practice and student voice merging to provide a cohesive learning environment.
Improvement Matters: supports the asking of critical and directed questions to enable improvement and often transformation of policy and practice.
Leadership Matters: represents leadership and shared vision with purposefully directed change to enrich learning and learning development.

With this in mind, the 2023 ICWGs will focus our commitment to SoTL by engaging with what matters most in different contexts, settings and environments.

We invite group leader applicants to identify both a topic predicated on the themes identified above and how it will be inclusive of a globally diverse group of participants. We rely on your expertise, experience and creative ideas to develop your topic.

The academic/traditional ICWG results in publication submission, usually, to Teaching & Learning Inquiry. These groups bring together academics (faculty, staff, and students) to co-create articles on teaching and learning topics from an international perspective.

Similar to previous ICWGs, the 2023 ICWG will convene for a face-to-face working session (5-7 November) during the days prior to the ISSOTL conference in Utrecht, The Netherlands (8-11 November). Before and after the conference, the groups will work together online to develop their article and group contribution. All ICWG group leaders and participants are expected to attend the pre-conference working session and register for and attend the conference.

Aims and Outcomes

The aims of the ISSOTL ICWGs are to

build capacity of participants to innovate and work collegially in international collaborative groups;
promote, share and extend SoTL-based practices and findings through traditional peer-reviewed article outputs
develop original contribution to SoTL.

Expectations

In your role as a group leader, your focus will be on leading and facilitating your group, and engaging with the whole ICWG cohort (i.e., the co-leaders, the other group leaders, and participants). We (the three ICWG co-leaders) will lead the overall ICWG coordination and logistics of the face-to-face meeting in Utrecht.

If you are selected as an ICWG group leader, you will

Facilitate an international group of 6-7 members (including you as the group leader) in developing and completing the article, starting in March 2023 and through to publication no later than October 2024.
Work with your group at a distance via online applications throughout that time period, and face-to-face at the ICWG session immediately prior to ISSOTL23. The objective being to develop an academic article before October 2024.
Ensure that your group meets the various deadlines (see below).
Collaborate with the ISSOTL ICWG Working Group and other group leaders in the broader initiative.

Benefits

The benefits are manifold and range from capacity-building in mentorship, leadership, and communities of practice; improved communication and dissemination skills; improved knowledge of scholarly literature and alternative avenues for the dissemination of SoTL-related knowledge; expanded networks of international colleagues; excellent evidence for your academic portfolio (invited to lead an ICWG in association with ISSOTL); and the list goes on.

Costs

All ICWG leaders and participants are expected to attend the pre-conference working session, as well as register for and attend the ISSOTL23 conference in Utrecht. Registration for the ICWG pre-conference working session is waived for the ICWG leaders.

Timeline

We expect to have group leaders selected by mid-March. Once selection is complete, we will release a call for applications for the participants of the ICWGs. The group members will be selected by us as the ICWG co-leaders and you will be notified of the names in April.

The current timeline has groups actively working from April 2023 – October 2024 with tentative milestones being:

20 February 2023 – ICWG group facilitators announced
24 February 2023 – Call for ICWG participants
20 March – ICWG participant applications due
12 April – ICWG participants announced
Mid-April – November 2023: ICWGs work at a distance and prepare abstracts, plans, and identified needs for group projects.
November 2023 – ICWGs work together in Utrecht: face-to-face working session immediately prior to ISSOTL conference in The Netherlands. Attend ISSOTL conference.
November 2023 – October 2024: ICWG cohort and individual groups continue working until completion of final submission
October 2024 – Final articles should be ready for submission for publication, recommend presenting at ISSOTL24

Applying

To prepare your application package:

A maximum of 300 words clearly outlining your topic and explaining how it meets the above brief for this year’s ICWG.
Key reasons (100 words max) why you believe you would be an effective leader/facilitator for an international collaborative group on this specific topic/project.

If you would like to apply for this exciting new initiative, please submit an application via Google Forms by 9pm PST 6 February 2023.

Earle Abrahamson e.abrahamson@herts.ac.uk

Barbara Kensington-Miller b.kensington-miller@auckland.ac.nz

Andrea Webb andrea.webb@ubc.ca