The Formation of Engaged Scholars: A Collaborative Approach to Doctoral Training in Education Research

• In Event: Roundtable Session 96
  In Roundtable Session: Preparing Scholars Across the Disciplines

Abstract

Answering recent calls for reconceptualizing doctoral education, this paper examines an innovative approach to the formation of engaged educational researchers. We conducted a self-study of a multi-year collaborative research project designed as an alternative model for doctoral training at a research-oriented graduate school of education. Data included minutes of meetings, field reports, researcher identity memos, and interviews. Our findings suggest new ways for faculty and students to create mutuality in relationship, provide apprenticeship training that prepares students for contextually grounded research, and integrate diverse standpoints and theoretical perspectives. While doctoral education often reinforces hierarchical relationships, this project cultivated a community of emerging researchers with a shared identity as scholars deeply engaged in the work of transforming schools and communities.

Authors

• Mark R. Warren, University of Massachusetts - Boston

• Soojin Susan Oh, Harvard University Graduate School of Education

• Mara Casey Tieken, Bates College

• Keith C. Catone, Annenberg Institute for School Reform