Building a bridge to professional self-esteem: Learner transitions on a distance learning Doctorate in Education (EdD)

Butcher, John and Sieminski, Sandy (2009). Building a bridge to professional self-esteem: Learner transitions on a distance learning Doctorate in Education (EdD). In: The University of Northampton Learning and Teaching Conference, 13 May 2009, Northampton, University of Northampton.

URL: http://www2.northampton.ac.uk/learningteaching/con...

Abstract

This presentation explores the experiences, perceptions and motivations of Doctorate in Education (EdD) students in their transitions through a relatively new form of doctoral education at a distance. The research draws on a range of individual EdD participant voices, both student and graduate, and is timely in focusing on an example of an under-researched but increasingly common phenomenon of part-time distance learning professional doctorates. The spotlight on one particular institution, (the Open University), enabled the researchers to explore their own practice with "their" students, and to develop a case study capturing the motivations and eventual impacts of doctoral study in a variety of distinctive professional contexts. Data was collected in a number of linked stages. Initially, a postal questionnaire was dispatched to two cohorts of EdD graduates. Responses were analysed to inform a series of in-depth telephone interviews which were conducted with a sample of those graduates. Findings from both sources were compared with reflective evaluations from residential conference evaluations, progress reports, and scrutiny of completed theses in which students reflected on their own professional outcomes. Key themes related to professional postgraduate learner transitions emerge from the data, which contrast with previous work on the traditional PhD and relate to: the deliberate choice by students of a distance learning route; a broader and better-informed understanding of professional outcomes on a professionally-oriented doctorate; the value of flexible support systems for EdD students working in demanding educational roles.

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