Today’s universities are increasingly diverse reflecting the breadth of professional and academic disciplines now in the realm of higher education (HE).  Equally the international scope of many universities has grown, with staff drawn from a range of cultural and educational backgrounds (Green & Myatt, 2011).  Although this creates a rich learning environment it is rarely recognised explicitly in training programmes for new staff (Trowler & Knight, 2000).  

It is common for new lecturers to participate in a period of training upon commencing employment; however, research into such provision tends to be retrospective, rarely supporting robust examinations of the experiences and knowledge that inform new lecturers’ emergent practices (Eley, 2006; Norton et al., 2010).  Nor do they consider the adjustments they may make to adapt to the values and behaviours of the community they are entering (Kane et al., 2002).  The aim of this research is to investigate the knowledge new lecturers draw upon in their first year of teaching and the contribution this makes to their practice.  To address this aim we are:

·      Exploring new lecturers’ educational and professional experiences;

·      Examining the development of new lecturers’ knowledge of teaching and its application to their practice;

·      Exploring differences in experiences and expectations of new lecturers in relation to their professional profiles / county of origin.

This paper draws on Lave & Wenger’s (1990) model of communities of practice to examine participants' developing sense of identity as legitimate university lecturers within a novel context.  In addition, Eraut’s (2004; 2007) framework of workplace learning enables us to understand the sites, spaces and nature of the learning that occurs in relation to the role they are now performing.  Finally, Alexander’s (1992) competing imperatives framework is been used to explore how the knowledge that underpins their role informs the actions taken in practice.

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