Sustaining Scholarly Conversation in Teaching and Learning
Canadian higher education has lost two scholarly journals in quick succession.
The Alberta Journal of Educational Research (AJER), long hosted by the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Education, released its final issue in the summer of 2024. Most recently, Papers on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching (PPLT) ceased publishing. These losses matter—there is a striking gap in our publishing landscape at the very moment when higher education most needs strong venues for research, reflection and evidence-based practice.
In an era of financial restraint, universities often focus on sharing infrastructure and resources; however, universities must have a means to share our intellectual capacity—to create collective spaces where faculty can grapple with the uncertainties of transformation and to reflect on their responsibilities as epistemic agents in a shifting landscape. Without such spaces, we risk silence at precisely the moment when higher education must “commit to dissemination,” a point emphasized by Alex Usher, president of Higher Education Strategy Associates (HESA) and a leading commentator on Canadian higher education policy.
When the outlets that once held space for critical inquiry disappear, the question becomes: Who will take up the work of facilitating the conversation? The recent launch of HESA’s Re: University Conference signals that new forums for commentary are beginning to emerge—and Pedagogical Inquiry and Practice (PIP) shares a commitment to that task.
Launched at MacEwan University in 2024, PIP is a Canadian peer-reviewed, open-access journal devoted to the scholarship of teaching and learning as it emerges from teaching-intensive universities. Our purpose is not to replicate the mandate of existing Canadian journals but to provide a national platform where practice-based, classroom-rooted inquiry is recognized and shared as scholarship.
PIP’s inaugural issue in 2024 drew contributions from across disciplines—psychology, nursing, design, education and more—reflecting both the breadth of Canadian higher education and the vitality of classroom-rooted scholarship. Each article is a reminder that teaching-focused universities are not only sites of instruction, but also contributors to inquiry and innovation.
We are now preparing for our second volume. Submissions for the 2026 issue of Pedagogical Inquiry and Practice open soon. We invite colleagues to share their work on teaching and learning in higher education. Full submission guidelines and details are available on the journal website.
“Two full days, bringing together hundreds of university leaders and impactful industry …” (HESA, 2025, Re: University is on. Are you in?, Higher Ed Strategy Associates).
