Institutionalizing the Scholarly Practitioner EdD Model

• In Event: Educational Doctoral Program Revisited

Abstract

In the last decade, practitioner preparation at the doctoral level in education has shifted to an understanding that professional practitioners seek skills that improve their practice. This shift has resulted in redesigning the EdD to combine best practices in research preparation with practitioner needs resulting in the preparation of scholarly practitioners. Using Curry’s (1992) change model and factors identified by Kezar and colleagues, this paper seeks to understand how four schools of education institutionalized a scholarly practitioner model for their EdD programs. Findings indicate that institutionalization happens in varying degrees with leadership, clear focus, external environments and partnerships all playing roles in the ways in which the scholarly practitioner model is adopted, implemented, and institutionalized.

Authors

• Jill Alexa Perry, University of Pittsburgh

• William A. Firestone, Self-employed

• Andrew Leland, Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville