Doctor of Education (EdD) Educational Psychology

The EdD Educational Psychology is aimed at experienced and fully qualified educational psychologists. In line with national developments to move the profession of educational psychology to a Doctoral profession, this programme integrates recent and applicable theory with the latest in professional practice.

The Exeter EdD is organised to fit around you and your work schedules. It updates and integrates professional competence and theoretical knowledge and understanding and all the module assignments and research thesis are linked to professional practice and service needs. One of the programme's distinctive features is its orientation to collaborative learning and a consultancy mode of professional practice.

Our Philosophy

The Professional Doctorates Programme is founded in a model of co-operative learning and firmly embedded in the principles and practices of adult and professional education. It provides a safe but challenging space within a supportive community of peers for scholarly reflection on, and experiment with, new concepts and ideas, professional understandings of practice, and research skills.

We favour a style of interaction that places a great deal of emphasis on personal responsibility, self-awareness, recognition of the needs of others and open and honest communication. Our tutors aim to act as facilitators, helping you to develop the necessary critical distance from which: to review and evaluate research, theory, policy and practice; to examine and challenge your own professional practice and its relationship with theory and policy; and to design and undertake your own ethically-informed research.

Duration

The EdD Educational Psychology pathway is only available as a part-time study option: a minimum of four years of study and up to six years to complete.

Course & Modules

Starting this year, all of our part-time EdD pathways will begin in July (with the exception of the EdD TESOL programme in Dubai).

Please note: only the full-time EdD pathways for TESOL and SEN will now be available in October.

Each of the five taught modules, as well as support during the period of research leading to the thesis, is centred on an intensive week of teaching at our summer school in July as well as an intensive weekend in February and an optional weekend in May.

The course is organised into five 30-credit modules followed by a dissertation. Two of the modules are focused on Research Methodology, two more on Educational Psychology and one elective module of your choice. The research methodology modules are mandatory for all EdD students, and provide guidance for writing the dissertation.

This allows time for professional networking and collaborative learning. Participants are encouraged to work together to explore similarities and differences in the theoretical, historical and policy contexts in which their work is set, and the ways in which these impact upon current practices; to reflect critically upon their own professional practices in the light of others’; and to undertake properly informed and ethical research within educational settings, which may include their own workplace.

Module teaching will take place via individual tutorials with module tutors, arranged at times to suit students and to fit in with their work commitments.  Once enrolled on the programme the Special Field Leader, Professor Brahm Norwich, will be in touch with students regarding arrangements for tutorials.

Course Map

Current Modules

The Nature of Educational Research (EEDD031) and Doing & Using Educational Research (EEDD032) are compulsory research modules.

• The Nature of Educational Research (EEDD031)

• Doing and Using Educational Research (EEDD032)

• Psychological assessment and intervention with children and adults (EEDD004)

• The professional educational psychologist as researcher (EEDD018)

• The Meaning and Practice of Professionalism (EED5014) - available as a core module from July 2011

Teaching & Assessment

In addition to the face-to-face lecture and seminar sessions, you’ll have regular tutorial support from academic staff in person and/or by telephone, email and internet protocols; and receive detailed written feedback on assignments.

At the thesis stage, you are allocated two supervisors and a mentor. On some pathways, group supervision sessions are also available.

How am I assessed?

Assessment for each module is by means of a 6,000 word assignment or portfolio addressing the main concerns of the module but drawing also upon the writer’s own professional experience. All modules and a research proposal must be satisfactorily completed before progression to Part 2 of the programme in which a research based thesis of 50,000 words is undertaken. The EdD is awarded upon successful completion of all five assignments, the thesis and a viva voce examination.

EdD students are entitled to use the Research Support Unit which provides a wide range of support for research. You also have access to a dedicated space for social gathering in addition to your own work space, where you can network and share experiences with a large and diverse community of fellow educational research students.

Fees & Funding

Specialist pathway in Educational Psychology

2010/11

• Part-time: Home/EU £2,300/yr; International £5,550/yr

Visit the University's Scholarships, bursaries and studentships pages to find out about all available funding opportunities.

Careers

By opting to study for an EdD at Exeter, you are outlining your commitment to continuing professional development and personal growth. The programme aims to improve your confidence in your values and actions as a professional, and also raise your credibility in the workplace.

Studying for an EdD should be seen as the next step in your career progression, by helping you to develop a critical approach to your work and increasing your ability to think and act more systematically. It can also enhance your prospects of promotion.

Entry Requirements

You will be expected to be an Educational Psychologist with a Masters degree, together with at least three years of relevant professional experience.

If English is not your first language you will need to submit, before starting a programme, evidence of a good command of English. For students completing the IELTS (International English Language Testing System), this means an overall score of at least 6.5, with no less than 6.0 in the writing section, and no less than 5.0 in any other section.

Academic Staff

Our tutors have national and international reputations for research and publications in their specialist fields. They regularly present keynote and other papers at conferences throughout the world; are active in Learned Societies; contribute to national policy debates; and act as consultants and external examiners. Several have written and edited books and/or are editors of academic and scholarly journals in their specialist fields. They also continue to practice and/or to have active links with their specialist professional communities in the UK and worldwide.

• Professor Brahm Norwich (Course Director)
• Professor Bob Burden