Who wants to be a teaching innovator?

Abstract

Innovative teaching is a common goal in Australasian university strategic documents. However, innovative teaching requires innovative teachers, yet our study of science, health and engineering staff at a Victorian university found many teaching academics did not identify as innovative, even when reflecting on their 2020-21 pandemic teaching experiences, and even though they demonstrated as much innovation at that time as their peers who did consider themselves to be innovators. This concise paper investigates reasons why teaching academics may be reticent to call themselves innovators, finding tentative support for three hypotheses: that there may be differences in how innovation is understood that are discipline-specific; that there may be social stigma associated with innovation that can be overcome via a change in organisational culture; and that some academics may associate innovation with negative connotations or experiences. We conclude with practical recommendations for building a culture of innovation in learning and teaching.