Doctor of Education (EdD)

Summary

Designed specifically for educational professionals, this qualification is a supervised professional research degree designed to provide you with high quality, advanced research skills to extend your leadership credentials and abilities in education.

Why study a EdD?

The Doctor of Education (EdD) will extend your academic knowledge and expertise so that it can be applied in the wide range of settings in which educators work. This programme is specifically designed for professional educators who have at least three years of experience as an educator and who have a desire to further their knowledge and skills in their educational practice and gain a doctorate.

Globally, this qualification has the same status as the PhD and is a benchmark in terms of researching education policy and practice. The EdD programme brings together professionals from a range of education contexts and backgrounds. This diversity adds richness to the learning experience and enhances your ability to engage in robust and innovative research.

Most educators study for the EdD part-time over 6-8 years whilst continuing their educational practice, but full-time study over 3-4 years is possible.

The EdD has two parts, a series of taught papers followed by supervised research. Part 1 comprises four taught papers, within which you can explore your specific study interest. These include choosing 2 out of 3 optional papers listed below (choice may be limited to when the papers are offered): EDUCA981 Advanced Education Inquiry: Pedagogies and Practices for Social Justice

EDUCA982 Advanced Education Inquiry: Leading Educational Transformation

EDUCA983 Advanced Education Inquiry: Policy, Context, Discourse

You will also need to complete the two compulsory papers listed below: EDUCA980 Advanced Education Inquiry: Research Paradigms and Theories

EDUCA990 Advanced Education Inquiry: Research Design

You need to obtain an average grade of at least B+ across your first three papers and pass Research Design (EDUCA990) to qualify for Part 2.

Part 2 is supervised, independent research into an aspect of your educational practice, and builds on your learning in Part 1. It culminates in writing a thesis about your research.

If you are not sure about whether a full Doctor of Education is for you, or you are unsure about a research focus for your EdD, you can still get started with Advanced Education Studies through three other Advanced Education Studies pathways; Postgraduate Diploma in Education, Postgraduate Certificate of Education and Individual Paper Credit, outlined below.