An autoethnography of becoming an innovative engineering academic: Punk, pirate and guerilla pedagogy

In this Autoethnography (AE) I consider, “becoming” the Most Innovative Teacher (2018) at my university. My identity as a university teacher, my epistemic beliefs, and my choice of vocational pedagogical techniques, have been influenced by my working-class background. No school qualifications, becoming the wrong sort of engineer (plumbing), and a twenty-three-year journey to a doctoral qualification. In 2013 my employer declared that I did not have a 'significant responsibility for research' (SRR). I was transferred to a teaching only contract as a punitive measure for not fulfilling my employers research expectations. My lateral migration to a teaching post was the catalyst for my re-engagement with pedagogy. I became aware that my teaching & learning practice had theoretical (constructivist) foundations. Engaging in scholarship, I read publications on teaching like a pirate, guerrilla teaching, and being a punk educator. It became clear that I had taken similar risks, to do engineering education differently. In this paper I will examine what motives I had for going “off-piste” and, whether my practice truly constitutes “innovative” engineering pedagogy. I conclude with a caveat on the research methodology (autoethnography) employed.