E d i t o r i a l

E d it o r :
- C .J. E ales, PhD

U n iv e rsity  o f  the W itw atersrand

A ssista n t E d it o r :
- A. S tew art, M S c

U n iversity o f  the W itw atersrand

E d ito r ia l B o a r d :
N a t i o n a l  M e m b e r s
- S.L. A m osun, PhD  

U n iversity o f  the W estern C ape
- P. G o u n d e n , P hD  

U n iversity o f  D u rban-W estville
- M . P a padoupolos, M S c 

U n iv e rsity  o f  Pretoria
- M . F aure, M P hil 

U n iv e rsity  o f  S te lle n b o sc h
- N. M bam bo, M S c 

M E D U N S A

I n t e r n a t i o n a l  M e m b e r s
- A. A kinpelu, PhD 

U n iversity C o lle g e  H ospital, 
Ibadan, N ig e ria

- T.H .A . K olobe, PhD 
U n iv e rsity  o f  Illinois, C h ica g o

- K. S hepard, PhD
T em ple U niversity, P hilad e lp h ia

- C. P artridge, PhD  
U n iv e rsity  o f  K ent, C a n te rb u ry

R e v ie w  Pa n e l :
- A m o su n , D e le
- B ester, R ia
- B o w e rb a n k , Pat
- C ro u s, L y n ette
- D a v id , H elen
- D e  C h a rm o y , S u e
- D ie n e r, Ina
- E k ste e n , C a rin a
- E is e n b e rg , M a sh e
- F a u re , M a ry
- F e a m h e a d , L ynn
- F rie g , A n n e tte
- F o rtu n e , J e ss ic a
- G ira u d , Jill
- H u n te r, L in d a
- Irw in -C a rru th e rs, S h e e n a
- K e m p , S te p h a n ie
- M b a m b o , N o n c e b b a
- M o th a b e n g , J o y c e
- M p o fu , R a tie
- P a p a d o p o u lo s , M a g d a
- P a u lse n , T om
- P o tte rto n , Jo a n n e
- P u c k re e , L in a
- S m ith , E ls a
- S w a rtz , A lm a
- U ys, M a rie tta
- Van R o o ije n , T a n y a

S c h o l a r s h i p  R e v i s i t e d

C urrently there is enormous emphasis on undergraduate training and on the 
outcomes that we wish students to achieve. 
Students are aggressively recruited and 
assured of excellent teaching programmes, 
but the rewards for dedicated teachers 
who present such programmes, are scarce. 
Frequently teachers who spend much of 
their time advising and counseling stu­
dents are passed by when it comes to 
promotions and salary increases. Research 
and publication have become the norm for 
promotion and academic status and there­
fore little time is left for the education of 
the students. Even those academics who 
were drawn to higher education precisely 
because they wanted to teach and educate 
young students in the skills of a profession 
are forced to comply with the dictum: 
Publish or perish.

Excellence of service is also restricted 
because of the emphasis on research and 
publication. Often the argument is that 
excellence in research automatically pre­
dicts excellence in teaching. This has never 
been my experience in physiotherapy. 
Excellent researchers are exactly just that 
and excellent teachers are possibly not so 
devoted to research and publication. To 
each his own and everybody should be 
rewarded for their area of excellence! 
Otherwise we may sink into a sea of 
mediocrity. It has also become imperative 
to connect academia to the social and 
environmental challenges of today and so 
while research is essential we also need a 
commitment to service.

The time has come for universities to 
break away from the exhausted arguments 
in the debate of teaching versus research 
and to take a hard look at what scholarly 
activities imply in our changing world. 
Ernest L Boyer suggested that we look at 
four distinct entities of sholarship. They 
included discovery, integration, application 
and teaching. He also suggested that 
universities developed their own unique 
identities and pursue excellence in edu­
cation. The improved education would 
depend on the way scholarship was 
defined, implemented and rewarded.

Scholarship according to Boyer refers 
to a variety of creative work carried on in 
a variety of places and its integrity is mea­
sured by the ability to think, communicate 
and learn. The term research was first used 
in the 1870’s when Oxford and Cambridge 
wished to make their universities not only 
“a place of teaching but also of learning” 
and it was only at that time that the word 
“research” became a part of the academic 
vocabulary. I am sure that scholarship does

mean engaging in original research but 
it must mean more. There is overlapping of 
the four areas i.e. discovery, integration, 
application and teaching.

The scholarship of discovery is what 
we understand as “research”. Advancement 
of knowledge as a result of disciplined 
investigative effort in universities is a 
process that should be strengthened and 
not weakened but it is by no means the 
exclusive activity of academics. To this 
should be added the scholarship of inte­
gration. This is the ability of scholars to 
give meaning to isolated facts and put 
them into perspective. Integration implies 
making connections across disciplines 
and so interpreting data in an informative 
way. It means fitting research findings into 
larger intellectual patterns.

The scholarship of application is based 
on the understanding that universities 
should serve the interests of the larger 
community. It has been suggested that 
scholarship may equip the scholar for 
service. To be considered scholarship, se 
vice activities must be tied directly to one’s 
special field of knowledge and relate to 
and flow directly out of this professional 
activity. By applying the knowledge gained 
by research and integration new under­
standing of professional fields are likely to 
result. Boyer quotes Oscar Handlin saying 
“Scholarship has to prove its worth not on 
its own terms but by service to the nation 
and the world” .

The final scholarship is that of teach­
ing. The work of researchers becomes of 
consequence to the student only as they 
understand it. In this context teaching both 
educates and entices future scholars. This 
then makes it quite clear that the teacher 
must be well informed and specialized 
in the knowledge of their fields. The role 
of the teacher is to try to bring the most 
honest and most intelligible account of 
new knowledge to all who try to learn.

Boyer concludes that the modern day 
scholar should recognise that knowledge 
is acquired through research, synthesis, 
practice and through teaching. Research, 
integration, application and teaching tied 
together should become the essential fea­
tures of scholarship. This broader vision of 
scholarship may prove especially useful to 
future academics.

SIELIE EALES (Editor) 

REFERENCE:
Boyer E L Chapter 2: Enlarging the Perspec­
tive. Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of 
the Professoriate. The Carnegie Foundation for 
the Advancement of Teaching: 15-25; xi-xiii

2 SA J o u r n a l  o f  P h y s io th e ra p y  2001 V o l  57 No 2

R
ep

ro
du

ce
d 

by
 S

ab
in

et
 G

at
ew

ay
 u

nd
er

 li
ce

nc
e 

gr
an

te
d 

by
 th

e 
P

ub
lis

he
r 

(d
at

ed
 2

01
3.

)