Reconciling conflicting demands in the training of HE teachers ‐ the experience at The Robert Gordon University

Highlights the increasing pressure that British higher education institutions (HEIs) are coming under to provide basic training in tertiary‐level teaching for their academic staff as a result of recommendations made in recent major reports. Identifies some of the (often conflicting) demands and constraints that HEIs are generally confronted with in developing and running such programmes, e.g. striking a balance between competence‐based training and academic education, avoiding making unreasonable time demands on either trainees or trainers, and reconciling the internal requirements of the institution with external pressures and constraints. Examines these various issues in some detail, and shows how they have been resolved within Scotland’s Robert Gordon University, which has been running a highly successful postgraduate course in tertiary‐level teaching for its staff since 1989.