Utilizing Qualitative Research Methods in Doctoral Programs to Enhance the Importance of Social Justice in Educational Leadership

The Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree prepares individuals in research and professional practice in education. In the case of Doctor of Education programs that have a focus on leadership, candidates are expected to act as agents of educational and social change. This chapter turns a critical lens to educational leadership programs in two states, Connecticut and Ohio, in order to better understand the current state of qualitative research and social justice within Doctor of Education programs. Additionally, mission, visions, and educational websites were examined to assess the range of experiences around social justice offered in educational leadership programs. This work also explores the literature on qualitative research methods as a form of inquiry and the history and evolution of qualitative methods that makes this research paradigm a good fit for social justice research and activities within educational leadership programs. Lastly, it illustrates practical approaches to embedding social justice in qualitative research courses.

Exploring Curation as a Path Towards Decolonizing Education

As part of my Doctor of Education program, I was asked to study Dr. Marie Battiste’s (2017) book Decolonizing Education: Nourishing the Learning Spirit. In response to that assignment, I built a WordPress site as a way to experiment with crossing boundaries of physical and digital places, between different Indigenous knowledges and notions of teaching and learning. While building the site, I looked for localized examples of Battiste’s concepts and ideas among the Inuvialuit, the Indigenous group with which I am the most familiar, in what became an exploration of the wonderful work being done in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region to preserve the culture and decolonize ways of thinking. I knew some of these resources existed, but was surprised by the depth and variety of materials available. In this paper, I present that website as an experimental example of digital curation that stitches together the book, a series of digital artefacts found via Internet searches and my own reflections on those artefacts. While building it, I did not seek out answers but instead explored the possibilities of curation as a path to decolonization education. The resulting site design is both personal and incomplete. Through this process, I hope to open generative cracks that provoke new ways of thinking about digital curation as a means of supporting active engagement in the complicated and necessary conversations regarding decolonization.

Japanese children’s experiences in New Zealand early childhood education settings

Early childhood education (ECE) settings in Aotearoa New Zealand are becoming increasingly ethnically superdiverse. This article draws on a research project that examined the cultural challenges that Japanese children sometimes encounter in New Zealand ECE contexts which was undertaken for my Doctor of Education. Data were analysed using a conceptual framework developed from five key notions that apply to third-culture individuals (TCI). The experiences of one child in this project and the tensions he experienced negotiating his self-identity as a Japanese child are described and their impact on his sense of belonging to the group of children at the centre is considered. The findings revealed that, despite the good intentions of teachers, the child’s Japanese cultural identity, and his attempts to share it, were frequently challenged by his teachers’ lack of cultural knowledge about Japan. I argue that these experiences resulted in complex situations for both the Japanese child and his teachers.

Reexamining Doctoral Education: A framework for Leadership in the Context of Practice

Traditionally, doctorate in education is pitched on two platforms. The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) is pitched as belonging exclusively to the domain of research and scholarship, while the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) is pitched as belonging to the domain of active professional practice. This distinction is dysfunctional to bridging the gap between research in the academe and research in professional practice. Research in the academe is often insular with theoretical intents and with outcomes that have limited utility for solving active problems of or in practice in education. This misguided distinction can be corrected through a new thinking of the educational purpose and outcome-expectations for Ph.D. and Ed.D. programs in education. Doctoral education, irrespective of nomenclature (Ph.D. or Ed.D.) should be envisioned as leadership platforms through which knowledge and practice is used seamlessly to continuously ignite innovation and transformation in education. This paper proposes a framework for reexamining doctoral education and their comparative relevance in solving problems of and in practice. The paper aims to position the two doctoral education pathways as platforms for developing leaders who promote the generation and application of knowledge on solutions to problems of and in practice. Author presents a conceptual model that explores the two doctoral pathways through the lens of application of knowledge, research, and practice. Further research is proposed on how doctoral education can enhance practice in educational leadership and foster continuous improvements in education.

Mentorship for Doctor of Education Candidates: Exploring Sustainability, Networking, and Expected Outcomes within a Mentoring Program

Candidates who pursue a Doctor of Education (EdD) often have a unique set of challenges as these candidates typically hold professional leadership roles in schools, districts, or organizations while taking courses and completing a dissertation. EdD candidates may benefit from participating in a mentoring relationship to gain social, emotional, academic, and career readiness support. In this paper, we explore perceptions of an EdD mentoring program related to sustainability, networking, and expected outcomes of their current mentoring opportunities. Perceptions of mentors’ and mentees’ self-efficacy, readiness, and progress are also studied in order to better support candidates in completing the doctoral program.

Fit for Purpose

Using an illustrative case study, this chapter explores the two-year design process of a practice-based Doctor of Education degree program in an online university. Emerging from the continuous improvement lens, the redesign process centered around the examination of the purpose of the degree in the context of meeting the educational needs of practitioners in the field. Principally, this program redesign led to greater differentiation between the practitioner-based EdD degree and the PhD to provide students with distinct options for meeting their personal and professional goals.

Creating, Implementing, and Redefining a Conceptual Framework for Mentoring Pathways for Education Doctorate Students

Supporting the proficiencies scholar-practitioners need to be successful in Doctor of Education (EdD) programs typically differ from the needs of traditional doctoral students in other types of programs; however, EdD students may benefit from participating in a mentoring program during the progression of their academic career. Several theoretical and conceptual frameworks that influence mentoring programs exist at the doctoral level despite the lack of research conducted that is specific to EdD degrees. In this article, we review several frameworks that influenced the creation and redesign of the Mentoring Pathways Program, developed explicitly to address the needs of scholar-practitioners attending a midwestern university. Through this process, we developed a Mentoring Pathways Program Model, by exploring the domains of sustainability, networking, and expected outcomes, with each domain enhanced through the foundational disciplines of readiness, self-efficacy, and progress. The development and implementation of the MPP model guides the mentoring approach for our EdD students while allowing for the flexibility to accommodate changing needs and requests. In this article, we present a reflective and responsive practice towards EdD mentor and mentee relationships, which are assessed yearly through surveys, interviews, and focus groups.

Group Dissertations as Leadership Learning

This article shares rationales for group dissertations and offers practical descriptions of how they transpire in one Doctor of Education (EdD) program. Drawing on program experiences and data, it considers how group dissertations promote leadership learning and EdD program puposes using Archbald’s criteria of developmental efficacy, intellectual stewardship, distinctive form, and community benefit. Suggested supports for group dissertations include clear commitments to group dissertations, admission processes attentive to group dissertation demands, an open student-centered topic and group formation process, faculty commitment to group advising, and vigilance against regressions to the familiar.