by Prof. Tom Dobson

In July we held the inaugural Education Doctoral Summer Residential in the Creative Centre.   Attended by doctoral researchers of education studying on EdD and PhD programmes, and joined by academics from the School of Education, Language and Psychology, our 3-day Residential had four key aims:

1. To develop a research community among doctoral researchers in education, breaking down barriers between the EdD and PhD;
2. To boost the confidence of doctoral researchers in education;
3. To facilitate a writing retreat;
4. And to provide formative feedback on emerging theses.

Because the event involved both PhD and EdD students, I have had time to think about the similarities and differences between the two programmes.  Of course, the most obvious difference is the mode of delivery: the EdD has taught modules in the first two years, which prepare the students for their research proposal and transfer.  In terms of similarities, there are many, but for me the main one that became apparent throughout the Residential was the way in which researchers from both programmes conceptualised their research as investigating problems of practice (PoP). 

Ironically, PoP was first adopted by The Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) – a collaborative of over 130 schools of education and colleges in America – as a way of clearly differentiating the EdD from the PhD.  Just looking at the criteria for applying for a CPED EdD, it is clear just how integral identifying and contextualising a PoP is for applicants in terms of developing their research proposals.

For EdD students at YSJ, a focus on PoP is almost second nature.  EdD students will reflect upon and explore their experiences of practice as educators, the relationships between themselves and their participants, the relationships between themselves and their immediate and wider policy contexts.  And because their research is research into embodied, lived experiences, it is research which requires these researchers to place themselves at the centre of the study. 

Of course, this can be the same for the same for students studying education on the PhD programme.  Just like my own experience of an education-based PhD, the Phd researchers in education were also investigating PoP with young people in educational settings.

After the summer break, I was discussing this similarity with colleagues who contribute their extensive knowledge and experience to our EdD programme.  Dr Joan Walton challenged me to push my thinking in order to make this key distinction: PhD researchers in education might focus on their research on PoP; whereas EdD researchers would almost certainly focus their research on PoP.

As the EdD looks to define itself (Foster et al., 2023) and to escape from the structural dominance of the PhD (Maxwell, 2003), this is an important distinction.  An important distinction that I’ll look forward to discussing with my colleagues and EdD and PhD researchers at next year’s Summer Residential.

The Education Doctoral Summer Residential 2024 will take place from the 24^th to the 26^th July.  For more information, please contact Tom Dobson t.dobson@yorksj.ac.uk.

References

Foster, H. A., Chesnut, S., Thomas, J., and Robinson, C. (2023). Differentiating the EdD and the PhD in higher education: A survey of characteristics and trends. Impacting Education: Journal on Transforming Professional Practice, 8(1), 18-26. 

Maxwell, T. (2003). From first to second generation professional doctorate. Studies in Higher Education, 28(3), 279-291.