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Australian EdDs: At a Crossroad?

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International Perspectives on Designing Professional Practice Doctorates

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Abstract

Australia has been a leader in doctoral education over the last two decades. Proponents of the doctor of education (EdD), among others, in the early 1990s led the development of a range of awards termed “professional doctorates” (Maxwell & Shanahan, 1996), which were intended to contrast with the traditional PhD. The latter was then considered more academic, the former more professional, in orientation. A professional doctorate holder would not normally aspire for employment in a university though a good case can be made for professional doctorate holders to be hired by universities. A body of Australian professional doctoral literature has developed in Australia (see, e.g., Brennan, 1995; Ellis, 2006; Lee, Brennan, & Green, 2009; Malloch, 2010; Maxwell, 2011; Maxwell, Hickey, & Evans, 2005; Maxwell & Shanahan, 1996, 1998, 2001; McWilliam, 2003; Neumann, 2005; Pearson, 2006; Stock, 2013; Trigwell, Shannon, & Maurizi, 1997; Voudouris & Hunter, 2011). Some international comparative studies have been undertaken (e.g., Kot & Hendel, 2012; Servage, 2009; Whitechurch, 2009). A key doctoral education meeting place for 20 years has been the Quality in Postgraduate Research series of conferences held in Adelaide (see http://www.qpr.edu.au/).

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Authors
  1. T. W. Maxwell
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Valerie A. Storey

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© 2016 T. W. Maxwell

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Maxwell, T.W. (2016). Australian EdDs: At a Crossroad?. In: Storey, V.A. (eds) International Perspectives on Designing Professional Practice Doctorates. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137527066_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137527066_5

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-56385-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-52706-6

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