Reflections on a Scholarship of Practice

Abstract

This article asserts that a scholarship of practice should emerge to improve day-to-day administrative practice in higher education. Six characteristics of professional practice in higher education strongly indicate such a need. The primary goals of scholarship of practice are to improve administrative practice in higher education and to develop a knowledge base worthy of professional status. This article also presents four attributes that a scholarship of practice must possess with particular attention to the types of knowledge needed for professional practice and how these types of knowledge might be developed by a scholarship of practice. Implications for policy and practice in higher education are also presented.