Enhancing the Relevance of a Professional Doctorate: The Case of the Doctor of Education Degree at the University of New England

Recently there has been considerable criticism of Professional Doctorates in an Australian government report (Neumann, 2003). Specifically this report claimed that many Professional Doctorates were almost indistinguishable from the conventional PhD model. The Doctor of Education (EdD) degree at University of New England predates the Neumann report and was conceptualized, not only to set it apart from an education PhD, but also to link it much more closely to the profession - specifically as an instrument of change. A key feature of the UNE EdD is the emphasis placed on the educational context and the learning that occurs in the professional's workplace. It now has much more in common with the so-called co-operative education triangle of student, employer and educational institution than many other EdDs that we know about. A recent evaluation of the UNE EdD has been very favorable with students claiming to have gained significant professional benefits from studying the EdD.