New lecturers' accounts of reading higher education research

Abstract

In reviewing what lecturers found valuable for their professional development, it has been argued that ‘professional reading’ of both higher education research and literature in their disciplines is a major theme for individual enhancement. Despite the increased interest in the writing practices of students and staff in higher education, however, the continued ‘invisibility of reading’ leaves an area of significant lecturer development unexplored, given the argument that reading practices provide insight into learning preparedness and critical thinking approaches.

This paper reports the outcomes of a small-scale study of academic reading for four new lecturers as they engage with higher education research as part of their professional development within a research-intensive higher education institution. It is argued that the difficulties these new lecturers experience in engaging with higher education research are more complex than the overcoming of linguistic differences in an unfamiliar discipline but relate to lecturers' wider conceptions of their academic identity.

Keywords:

• special issue
• academic identity
• academic literacies
• higher education research
• reading

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to the four participants for their contributions to the study and to the three referees for their constructive comments on the first version of this paper.