To what extent has the dearing policy recommendation on training new lecturers met acceptance? where dearing went that robbins didn't dare

Abstract

This article considers the development of training programmes for new lecturers since the Dearing Committee in the United Kingdom recommended that all new full-time academic staff with teaching responsibility should achieve at least associate membership of the ILT (Institute for Learning and Teaching; now ILTHE, Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education), for the successful completion of probation. Comparisons are made with similar recommendations made by the Robbins (1963) and Hale (1964) reports. A survey undertaken in more than 90 higher education institutions found that most institutions now provide training leading to ILT membership for their new lecturers, and training is linked to probationary requirements. The devil is in the detail, however: rather than uniformity of provision, the diversity of values and purposes in different types of institution is reflected in a diversity of attitudes and approaches to training: the size of course, and the levels of support among senior managers, heads of department and among new lecturers themselves. Introducing training for new lecturers is looked at through the lens of implementing policy change.