Uncovering the identities of students and graduates in a CPED-influenced EdD program

Abstract

The educational doctorate (EdD) is being re-envisioned as a distinct professional degree. Today's EdD graduates are envisioned as scholarly practitioners. Given this it may be reasoned these individuals have unique identities comprised of several layers. In this study, we examined how 18 entering students and 17 graduating students from an EdD program viewed themselves as learners, leaders, and action researchers. Data were obtained using a questionnaire with closed-and open-ended items, follow-up interviews were conducted with 12 incoming students and 12 graduates, and dissertations were also examined. Data were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative procedures. Questionnaire results indicated no significant differences between groups, but qualitative results showed students new to the program held strong identities as learners and leaders, but not as action researchers. Graduates held stronger views of each layer and their views were aligned to the program's vision. From these findings implications are provided for program developers and students.In 2007 the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) and its affiliate institutions began working to re-examine, re-focus, and re-design the educational doctorate (EdD) as a distinct professional practice degree (CPED 2010; Latta and Wunder 2012;Perry 2011;Perry and Imig 2008). Newly designed CPED-influenced programs follow a common set of principles and design features, but have latitude to develop individual missions and goals. CPED-influenced programs focus on developing scholarly practitioners, individuals who have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions they need to solve the problems of practice they routinely encounter (CPED 2010). Given this vision, it is plausible that these programs are developing individuals with distinctive identities.As a member of CPED, our program aspires to develop scholarly and influential practitioners, individuals who have the abilities they need to lead change and improve local situations. We envision that graduates of our program will be able to apply ideas and information learned at the university to their practice, collaborate with stakeholders, and use systematic inquiry to improve their practice. In sum,

Graduates’ Continuing Work as Scholarly Practitioners after Participation in a Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate Guided, EdD Program

“…Based on the data from this study, graduates' scholarly practitioner behaviors are quite congruent with the CPED definition because graduates described using theories to guide their work, disseminating outcomes from their work, and resolving problems in their workplaces. Moreover, these findings are aligned with and extend the results from other recent studies on the influence of CPED programs on participants' development as scholarly practitioners (Buss, 2019;Zambo, Buss, & Zambo, 2015).…”

Using Action Research as a Signature Pedagogy to Develop EdD Students’ Inquiry as Practice Abilities

“…Taken together, the arguments I offer here along with the data from several research studies suggest AR is highly effective for developing and sustaining inquiry as practice abilities among EdD students (Buss, 2017a(Buss, , 2017bBuss & Avery, in press;Buss et al, 2014;Zambo et al, 2015). Specifically, it is clear these inquiry as practice abilities emerge during the program as students try them out in their laboratories of practice and become more adept at using them (Buss, 2017a;Buss & Avery, in press).…”

“…By comparison, those who have completed one year of the program maintained they were developing emerging inquiry and research skills (Buss, 2017a;Buss & Avery, in press). Importantly, graduates of the program readily claimed they had developed powerful, worthwhile research and inquiry as practice abilities, which they applied to their workplace settings (Buss, 2017b;Buss et al, 2014;Zambo et al, 2015). These positive findings have encouraged me to write this essay in which I describe how this substantial growth of inquiry as practice abilities among students may be accounted for.…”

“…Evidence from program research suggests our action research orientation has been effective in developing inquiry as practice skills among program participants. For example, in studies about students' research skills, participants in our EdD program freely admitted they knew very little or nothing about research and did not employ systematic inquiry skills as part of their practices when they entered our program (Buss, 2017a;2017b;Buss & Avery, in press;Buss, Zambo, Zambo, & Williams, 2014;Zambo, Buss, & Zambo, 2015). By comparison, those who have completed one year of the program maintained they were developing emerging inquiry and research skills (Buss, 2017a;Buss & Avery, in press).…”

“…Specifically, it is clear these inquiry as practice abilities emerge during the program as students try them out in their laboratories of practice and become more adept at using them (Buss, 2017a;Buss & Avery, in press). Importantly, these AR inquiry abilities are sufficiently durable that program graduates continue to employ them in their educational practice settings after they complete the program (Buss, 2017b;Zambo et al, 2015. )…”