There is an intimate relationship between knowledge creation and application in higher education. This is the connection between scholarship and teaching. There is an authenticity, excitement and freshness when teaching goes beyond simply transmission of information. Higher education is about inquiry. If the educational process does not model a scholarly approach to learning, it is near impossible to have students adopt a questioning approach and learn the skills and values of inquiry. Scholarly inquiry is essential to develop the higher-order learning abilities such as critical and creative thinking.
Inherent in a scholarly approach to teaching is an environment that builds knowledge organically and is consistent with the values and culture of higher education. Scholarship and practice are integral to higher education - one informing and supporting the other. It can be said with some certainty that theory emerges from practice and practice is informed by theory. In the best tradition of John Dewey, at the heart of all my activities is a scholarly approach where theory and practice are inseparable. The core of higher education is the goal to integrate the individual and society; reflection and action. I believe that at the heart of the higher education enterprise is scholarly inquiry and the personal construction of meaning concurrent with the collaborative confirmation of understanding and knowledge.
D. Randy Garrison