New lecturers and the myth of ‘communities of practice’

Abstract

How novice lecturers learn to be successful in their role is relatively under-researched, although the assumption may be made that the newcomer has learned the fundamentals how to engage in academic practice – at least in terms of research and scholarship – via the PhD process. However, although many lecturers now enter from a professional or practice background, the transition experiences of this group have received little attention in the research literature. Drawing on an interview study in a post-1992 setting, this paper looks at the experiences of a small group of new lecturers from ‘practice’ (as opposed to academic) backgrounds, focusing on their general transition experiences, and their orientations towards academic reading and writing practices. Their accounts suggest that they did not feel part of a ‘community’ and that they experienced a degree of confusion regarding the role, in addition to a sense of inauthenticity and isolation. In the light of these findings, this paper will critically examine the rather unquestioned acceptance of the ‘communities of practice’ model in higher education discourse and research, arguing that its applicability to the private, tacit, and largely text-based academic world may be called into question.

Keywords:

• special issue
• academic identities
• communities of practice
• new academic staff

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lesley Gourlay

Now at: Centre for Academic and Professional Literacies, Institute of Education, London, UK