• Who is this programme for?
• Aims and objectives
• Additional information

The Professional Doctorate in Learning and Learning Contexts has been developed to engage with the pedagogical challenges presented within and outside formal educational contexts by new theories of learning, the knowledge economy, the social inclusion agenda, the wider benefits of learning and the need for informed citizenship.

Who is this programme for?

This course will be of interest to anyone who wants to:

• Enhance their understanding of learning;
• Enhance their understanding of educational research methods;
• Pursue studies that can be applied to their own teaching and learning contexts;
• Develop professional communication and presentation skills and their understanding of new technologies in Education.

Aims and Objectives

The EdD draws on a number of disciplines of study to encourage the development of new understandings in contemporary research and theory and to develop innovatory practice. Students who take the course will be expected to:

• develop a critical view of the literature related to learning and learning contexts in the UK and internationally;
• acquire knowledge and expertise in a range of research methods
• develop a critical perspective on theoretical and methodological issues in educational research generally and specifically in their chosen subject area;
• design and undertake an investigation of their chosen research area in negotiation with their supervisor, with due regard to ethical and pragmatic considerations;
• develop the investigation to its conclusion through writing, discussion, seminars and papers with the aim of publication;
• contribute to the professional culture through individual investigation which makes an original contribution to the chosen field.

Additional Information

Modules

Learning and Transformation: Theoretical Perspectives on Teaching and Learning

This key module introduces the main critical perspectives on learning within different, related contexts. It adopts a cross-disciplinary and problem-based approach and will engage the students in the study of the following areas:

• Cognitive and psychological theories of teaching and learning
• Social contexts of learning and learning theories
• Policy and discourse contexts of learning

This relational approach is crucial to the fundamental focus of the EdD that research on education and learning involves a new research culture and partnership, with a professional and evidence based practice as its core.

Special Studies in Learning: Theory, Practice or Policy

This module brings together the key strands of the professional doctorate in Learning and Learning Contexts – theories, practices and policies – and relates them to the particular context within which students are to carry out their dissertation. As such the module will mainly reflect the particular research literature relating to the individual student’s (or group of students’) research interest and the methodological issues concerning their individual research. These will be linked to the overarching themes developed within previous modules on the professional doctorate in Learning and Learning Contexts. Participants will receive training in case study methods and will be expected to discuss with other students the significance of their studies in terms of the insights gained about learning, learning contexts and policy as it impacts on contexts. Areas in which enquiries may occur will include networked environments, medical education, subject specialist settings, informal settings and others.

Cultures and Contexts of Learning

This module is designed to provide knowledge and understanding of specific, local contexts of learning. It will deal with spaces and environments of learning, their social and material technologies. It will provide theoretical resources and occasions to examine spaces of learning. The module will give attention to the wider institutional and systemic contexts of spaces of learning, giving attention to their genealogies and structures. The module will make the frameworks for description, analysis and critique of learning spaces explicit. The module content will include:

• Frameworks of description, analysis and critique
• Environments, spaces and technologies: mapping sites of learning
• Historical and contemporary perspectives on sites of learning
• Learning spaces and culture: power/knowledge, cultural differences, inclusion/exclusion
• Socio-cultural activity theory, related and conflicting discourses

Specialist Research Module: Researching Learning

In this module participants will clarify their research questions in the area of learning and relate them to methodological choices and connected issues of research design. To inform this process participants will consider critically a number of research approaches used in research on learning and learners. Participants will also be encouraged to examine relationships between research and policy and research and practice in order to consider the implications of their own work and how it might be used by different audiences.