Imagining and Understanding Innovation at the University

Teaching is a task that has artisanal components; it comprises principles and practices that are passed down from generation to generation of teachers.

Furthermore, as each teacher gains experience, they add practical resources to their professional repertoire to deal with specific situations.

Guiding a group of students in their learning can be likened to cooking a dish. The teacher must use a variety of ingredients appropriately if they want their students to progress. Furthermore, each field of study is different—even the same subject can be approached in different ways—and each group of students, each individual student, is different. This further underscores the artisanal nature of teaching.

What are the ingredients of innovative teaching? What skills do innovative teachers employ? Here, we simply want to present two ingredients that are rarely discussed, and even less frequently reflected upon, especially in the university teaching sphere. To use another metaphor, the work of an artisan is based, to some extent, on intuition. Sculpting a statue, composing a piece of music, painting a picture, creating a poem, or designing a building requires certain technical knowledge. However, that knowledge alone is not enough to perform these tasks masterfully. The sculptor, the composer, the painter, the poet, and the architect also use a type of knowledge that is unconscious, more holistic, and that allows them to create works of art. This also applies to good cooking. If cooking consisted of mechanically following a recipe, there would be millions of chefs in the world. Innovative cooking consists of taking the risk of creating new dishes, experimenting with ingredients and processes. The same is true for teaching:

«The professional [teaching] practice is characterized by its complexity, it is dynamic, interactive, and occurs in a specific and continuously changing context. Images, both visual and metaphorical, come to professionals with greater ease than verbal reasoning. The recognition of certain Patterns allow them to read the context at a glance and adapt the initial plan to the changing environment»

(Atkinson and Claxton, 2002:18).

Intuition is an ingredient of innovative teaching. This does not mean that it is the only form of knowledge necessary, but it must undoubtedly be present to give teaching an innovative character.

Those who cook well also enjoy doing it. In the context of teaching, Ruben Alves states:

«"Educational experts developed methods for evaluating learning, and Based on their results, they classify the students. But no one ever thought about evaluating The students' joy; surely because there are no objective methods for it…Education, fascinated by knowledge of the world, forgot that its vocation is to awaken the unique potential that lies dormant in every student» (Alves, 1996:23).

Joy is an integral part of innovative teaching. This doesn't mean that teaching is all about enjoyment, but an innovative teacher finds joy in their work and transmits that joy to their students throughout the learning process.