As part of our special series on emergent scholarship, Dr. Jon Becker of Virginia Commonwealth University discussed his experiences with emergent scholarship from the varied perspectives of scholar, faculty practitioner, policy developer and administrative support. Emergent scholarship has seen significant engagement since Ernest Boyer's call for expanding the domain of scholarship, but the support of this scholarship in formal education spaces has not kept up with rate of adoption. What are the various roles and responsibilities for faculty, staff and administrators in supporting, promoting and amplifying the growth of emergent scholarship?
Jon Becker is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University. For four years, he served as the Director of Learning Innovation and Online Academic Programs, and was integral in forming VCU’s Academic Learning Transformation, or ALT, lab. Jon also holds a Juris Doctorate from Boston College Law School, and both his scholarly and practical work exist at the intersection of emergent teaching and public policy. His administrative, scholastic and blogging work can be found at jonbecker.net
Jons 2016 blog post combines years of published research, data aggregation, mass media and grey literature regarding the relationship between faculty identity and scholarship production, with specific focus on how open and transparent actions are paramount to the growth of the academy.
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During the episode, Rolin & Jon discussed a recently published essay on the lack of impact academic work was having in greater society, critiquing the politicism of the article with the sociopolitical issues inherent within educational leadership and policy.
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