In this #Take5 Sandra Abegglen, University of Calgary, Sandra Sinfield, London Metropolitan University and Bonnie Stewart, University of Windsor, make a case for taking more time for ourselves. They argue that we all need time to pause and reflect – time for some intentional stepping away from the pressures and fast pace of our working lives. Today’s university life – with its multiple demands and constant pressure – they argue, necessitates that we pause in order to re-group – and continue with more energy and humanity. Weaving in Bonnie’s sabbatical,’Belonging and Place,’ in the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) they illustrate both the relational and humane aspects of a successful community-based university – and illustrate the power of occasionally stepping away and outside of our normal hectic lives to allow us to see again.
We hope you enjoy reading this opinion piece post – and if you currently are already practising small acts of stepping away and self-care – we hope you log-in and share them in the Comments below.
Carving out time and space to nourish yourself – to enrich your praxis and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
A reflective blog post dedicated to Tom Burns, who always made time for what truly mattered.
Sandra Burns Sinfield, London Metropolitan University, s.sinfield@londonmet.ac.uk
Sandra Abegglen, University of Calgary, sandra.abegglen@ucalgary.ca
Bonnie Stewart, University of Windsor, Bonnie.Stewart@uwindsor.ca
Introduction
Carving out time and space for ourselves is not a luxury – nor is it a sign of diminished productivity, lack of dedication, or any of the other negative internalised narratives we’ve come to associate with taking a pause. On the contrary, time to slow down, reflect, and reset is vital. It recentres our lives and creates the hermeneutic space necessary to enrich our teaching/Learning Development (LD) practice – and to nurture our Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL).
This #Take5 post reflects on what it means to be and belong in Higher Education. It explores simple yet intentional ways to create reflective pauses – both within and beyond the academy – that can foster more meaningful, student-centred, and research-informed pedagogies. Drawing from our own lived experiences, and inspired by the principles of Slow Academia and Bonnie Stewart’s ‘Belonging and Place’ project, as well as our own reflection on ‘Scattered Energy’, we share how everyday activities like cooking, swimming or spending time with pets can become powerful practices of grounding, reflection, and creative renewal.
We argue that such moments of pause are not only personally restorative but also pedagogically transformative. They allow us to reconnect with our values, engage more deeply with our students and colleagues, and foster practices that are more compassionate, inclusive, and sustainable in an increasingly fast-paced academic environment.
Keywords: SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning), reflective practice, slow academia, academic well-being, work-life integration
Scattered Energy
‘Being’ in academic work is deeply embodied, requiring sustained mental, emotional, and physical energy. When our energy is scattered – pulled in multiple directions by tasks, obligations, and competing priorities – it can create cognitive overload, leaving us unable to distinguish the essential from the trivial. This scattered state not only hampers creative flow but also risks burnout, reducing both productivity and well-being. This, in turn, affects our work, our teaching and learning.
In Scattered Energy: The Hidden Enemy of Creative Flow (Abegglen, Olchawska & Sinfield, 2025), we explore how acknowledging and managing scattered energy can foster more intentional and sustainable scholarly practice. We argue that slowing down, setting boundaries, and embracing the embodied nature of academic work are key strategies for redirecting energy toward meaningful tasks. By noticing when energy feels dispersed, educators can consciously reclaim focus, prioritise creative and intellectual endeavours, and design spaces – both literal and metaphorical – that support reflection and playful experimentation.
In addition, attending to scattered energy gives us permission to connect to our own stories and the stories of others, grounding us in a larger narrative that situates our work within broader scholarly, social, and personal contexts. In the context of conscious pedagogical experimentation and development – and of SoTL and LD – this attention and conscious slowing down can mean creating room for deep engagement, collaboration, and reflective practice. It encourages educators to pause, consider what truly matters, and align their efforts with both personal well-being and professional purpose. In doing so, scattered energy transforms from a hidden enemy of creativity into a resource that, when managed intentionally, fuels innovation and scholarly vitality.
Being, Being with and Belonging
We have been thinking about being, being with (Nancy, 2000) and belonging through collaboration and radical hope for a while:
- Stories of Hope
- Collaboration in Higher Education
- Quiet Spaces, Collective Voices
- Building Community Through Collaborative Learning
And of course, we are not alone. A recent project, ’Belonging and Place,’ (viz. Executive Summary) and its reflective writing on the power of belonging in educational spaces have sparked further thoughts about the restorative power of the sabbatical: the conscious stepping away from and outside of one’s normal role. Stepping off of her normal path and being, truly being, in a space, helped Bonnie to see things differently, making the time and space for new experiences, insights … and writing.
Bonnie’s Sabbatical: belonging as a decolonisation of the self
This project emerged happenstance from the confluence of a lucky trip to Scotland and my own disillusionment.
As I’ve gone on about in previous posts, in 2023, I was worn thin on AI hype, grieving the capture and enclosure of my field by forces far removed from the participatory educational ideals I’d originally valued in digital pedagogy. At #OER23 in Inverness, I was heartened by the distributed digital work UHI showcased…it was human-focused and connected and tied to place and culture. I proposed a sabbatical project that would centre on UHI: I’d do a strengths-based case study of their digital and place-based practices, with belonging as a lens. (viz. Belonging Posts)
Dr. Bonnie Stewart (University of Windsor, Canada) undertook her sabbatical project to surface approaches and attitudes toward academic research, teaching and learning, and Higher Education itself. “Belonging and Place” explored digital pedagogies and the socio-material practices of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) in Scotland. In that project, she asked:
What does it mean, to belong? How do belonging and not belonging get experienced/expressed in learning contexts? In networks and communities?
(https://bonstewart.com/belonging/the-annotated-bibliography/).
While exploring these questions, Bonnie encountered “Dùthchas, the Gaelic concept of belonging as home” (viz. https://bonstewart.com/belonging/posts/the-parting-glass/). A powerful concept in the Scottish Highlands – where land, local customs and language were consistently attacked and stolen from the people. Where perhaps ‘belonging’ itself had to be re-identified against the authoritarian power that moved so hard to remove it. A psycho-social reality perhaps being experienced by many in the educational arena right now?
Of her sabbatical place Bonnie says:
I got lucky. I chose my exemplar well. The project report has a tidy Executive Summary that says a lot about how UHI staff generally aspire to and model positive digital, distributed pedagogies, rooted in place, belonging, and engagement. There is something to be said for an institution being deeply grounded in the people and place it serves…yet open to fostering both to grow and change.
Belonging was exemplified not by policies, targets and strategies, but by a recognition and valuing of people and place:
- UHI serves as enabler of community sustainability rather than catalyst for outmigration.
- Relationality as core to belonging.
- ‘Authentic human connections’ key in both physical and digital teaching environments.
- Extends beyond formal support systems to include peer connections, community ties, and professional networks, & PAT system.
(From PowerPoint presentation of findings)
And of the sabbatical itself she says:
But there was a lot about this project that was not solely about UHI. For me, it was about changing focus…trying to direct my attention and gaze away from AI and big universities and the spectacle of disinformation and consolidation of power that underpins most narratives in my field right now.
We cannot keep looking to the same models if we want anything to change.
The richness and depth of the experience – the unexpected insights gained – and shared – demonstrate the power of the sabbatical: The potential of stepping away and being outside and making time for experiencing the unknown, of wandering with purpose but with an open mind and an open heart. The benefits of creating real time and space for research – and reflection.
What We Do
While most of us can’t step away for extended periods of time, we can, however, take small breaks that help us reset. In our case, two everyday practices have become powerful sources of energy and (re)balance.
For Sandra S, regular swimming in the sea offers moments of calm and rhythm – a way to disconnect from the constant academic load and reconnect with the body. Even a few strokes in choppy water create a sense of clarity and momentum, helping her to return to work feeling reenergised rather than depleted.
For Sandra A, spending time with her dogs provides a different kind of grounding. Whether it is a playful moment, a walk or simply having them nearby while working, the dogs offer comfort, levity, and emotional steadiness. These small interactions act as mico-breaks that genuinely lift energy and mood.
Together, these simple practices – stepping away to swim, pausing to interact with pets – remind us that (well)being does not always require major changes. Often, it is the brief, meaningful pauses that sustain us and help us keep going.
And for Tom, to whom this piece is dedicated, cooking was always a source of joy and renewal – a creative space where he could relax, experiment, and nourish both himself and others. It was his way of pausing, resetting, and finding energy in the everyday – and of being with others.
Takeaways
Bringing these reflections together, we argue that we need to recreate academia with humane and relational practices (Abegglen et al., 2020) of our own. We suggest that well-being and scholarly vitality in academic life are sustained not by grand interventions but by intentional, embodied micro-practices that reconnect us to ourselves, to each other, to our work, and our communities.
Specifically:
- Small restorative breaks matter – even brief moments away from work can replenish energy, spark inspiration and improve focus.
- Physical activity, like swimming, brings clarity by reconnecting body and mind, offering a reset amidst busy routines.
- Pets provide emotional grounding, offering comfort, joy, and lightness through simple, everyday interactions.
- Creative routines, such as cooking, can be deeply restorative, as they were for Tom – providing space to relax, create, and reconnect.
- Well-being doesn’t require major changes – sustainable energy often comes from consistent, meaningful, care-ful micro-practices.
In essence, sustainable well-being arises from positive habits and consistency, not overhaul. Purposeful micro-practices offer accessible and durable ways to counter scattered energy, supporting a more reflective, compassionate, and humane approach to academic life.
Coda
What else? Consider the course proposed in “Scattered Energy” (viz. https://academichub.eu/CreativePerspectives/index.php/journal/article/view/16), where each module guides you toward creating your personalised Energy Blueprint. We argue that this Blueprint will help safeguard your time, creativity, and focus. In a world that frequently imposes unrealistic demands within increasingly limited timeframes, the course will assist you in slowing down and reshaping your narrative to align with your individual needs, rhythm, and energy. And, one day, we hope that this Blueprint will not only sustain your creative practice but also inspire new ways of working – more intentional, more balanced, and more free.
Quote by Albert Camus.
What do you do?
If currently you are already practising small acts of stepping away and self-care, we hope you log-in and share them in the Comments below.
If you feel that you are not currently doing this, why not take a moment to reflect – and consider what aspects of your life could constitute acts of self care? Can you think of ways to integrate them more sustainably in your life?
Bios
Sandra Sinfield is Associate Professor in Education and co-founder of the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE, where she serves on the Steering Group, co-chairs its Mentoring Group, and leads Take5. She provides research-informed leadership in teaching, learning, assessment and curriculum development, supporting innovative professional practice. Through her work in the Centre for Teaching Enhancement, Sandra champions creative staff development, pedagogical research, and publication, advancing inclusive and transformative approaches to higher education.
Sandra Abegglen is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary, where she leads innovative projects on creative and transformative approaches to learning and teaching. She has been awarded recognition for her transdisciplinary work and leadership in higher education. She holds a PhD in Education, an MSc in Social Research, and an MA in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, and is an expert Senior Lecturer in Education Studies. Her research spans online education, creative pedagogy, mentoring, identity, visual narratives, and qualitative methods, with extensive publications on emancipatory and playful learning.
Bonnie Stewart is a longtime educator and digital researcher whose work in participatory learning has spanned all eras of the web. Associate Professor of Online Pedagogy and Workplace Learning in the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Education, Bonnie explores the implications of digital information ecosystems for institutions and society. An early MOOC researcher, Bonnie also did a Ph.D on Twitter (RIP) as a space of academic influence, and remains fascinated by the complexities of digital networked practice. Bonnie currently investigates what it means to know, to learn, and to belong, with agency, in an era increasingly marked by digital automation and weaponization.