The Professional Doctorate in Education is a two-stage programme. You can undertake stage one as a full-time student over a period of 1 year, or as a part-time student over 2 years. You will then undertake stage two as a part-time student only over a period of 2 years to 4 years.

Stage One: Four Units of Work
These units provide a structured programme of study, as part of a cohort of students, through which you will progressively develop skills required to undertake independent research in a professional context. It involves weekend workshops on the reflective practitioner, the context of educational research, methods and methodology, exploring an area of special interest to your chosen theme, and research design. These involve the preparation of four written papers amongst other (e.g. oral) presentations. Each paper will be approximately 5000 words in length and will provide the opportunity:

• to reflect critically on the material explored in the workshop units
• to draw on and reflect upon your professional practice
• to develop the specific skills and understanding you will need to undertake the independent research thesis in the next stage.

Stage Two: The Thesis
This stage is an original research component, supported by further workshops and support. Throughout this stage you will have a supervisory team of usually two academic staff, in addition to the ongoing contact with other students in your cohort and the wider programme.

Supervision and support

You will attend workshops through which you will gain academic and peer support. Academic advisers will be able to support your work. During stage two, you will have a supervisory team and continue to attend some workshops. Your supervisors are experienced academics who will give guidance and criticism as you develop your thesis. You are required to maintain a log of these supervisory sessions - these notes must be agreed with those supervisors present at the meetings and sent to all members of the supervisory team. You will have an annual monitoring progress review that will be chaired by an academic, outside of this team.

Facilities

You will have access to computer support and can log on to our University website for instant 24-hour access to library resources and study materials.

Our Department of Education provides a stimulating research environment and infrastructure. Support activities for students undertaking research programmes include: workshops and sessions on research strategies; "Research Matters" seminars, where research in progress for peer review; "Brown Bag" lunchtime seminars, informal discussions on research issues and current debates in education; research updates and information on funding, training conferences and bursaries.

Funding

Aside from self-funding or funding by your employer, charities and trusts (competitively sought after, as are Research Council Awards), or career, graduate, and professional study loans may be available. Click: www.family-action.org.uk for information on educational trusts, or click: www.gov.direct.uk for bank loans at competitive rates. Alternatively, visit your local high street bank for more information.

Career development and training

You will carry out a Professional Development Plan as well as a skills diagnostic assessment. This will identify skills required for carrying out the research and other such activities for future career prospects.

An example of our supervisors' research expertise includes:

Dr Geraldine Davis
Professional Education, Adult Learning, Problem Based Learning, Bioscience Education in Health Programmes, Education for Professional Practice in Health, Education and Early Years Settings including Aspects of Leadership and Management.

Dr Jaki Lilly
Research methodology using qualitative approaches. Research into learning and teaching in the HE sector.

Dr Debbie Holley
Blended Learning; Student Engagement Online; Mobile Learning; Moving Learning Between Formal/Informal Classroom Boundaries and Spaces; Innovative and Creative Curricula; Web 2.0.

Dr Paulette Luff
Early Childhood Education and Care; Relational Pedagogy; Observational Methods; Case Study Approaches; Tools for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (including Reflective Journals in Different Formats).

Dr Melanie Peter
Special Educational Needs, Movement Education, Inclusion in Training Programmes.

Dr Simon Pratt-Adams
Urban Education, Primary Education, Mobile Learning Technologies.

Dr Chrissie Rogers
Disability, Special Educational Needs, Mothering (Parenting), Reproduction, Care, Inclusive and 'Special' Education, Qualitative, Reflexive and Auto/Biographical Research Methods.

Dr Hazel Wright
Adult education and training; Equality and social structures (gender, race, class, special needs); Early Years practice and curriculum; Parental and community involvement; Path dependency and change; Policy into practice; Professionalism, leadership and management; Qualitative methodologies (especially biographical and ethnographic approaches); Record keeping and assessment.

Entry requirements

A candidate seeking direct entry to our Professional Doctorate will normally hold a Masters degree in an appropriate cognate area awarded by a UK University, or an overseas Masters degree of equivalent standard, provided that the degree included training in research and the execution of a research project or dissertation. Candidates should normally also have appropriate professional experience. However, there are exceptions to this so do contact us if in doubt. If a candidate has appropriate professional experience but does not have a Masters degree, it is possible to gain entry to the Professional Masters or Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Research. Successful completion of these would enable transfer into the Professional Doctorate.