Doctor of Education

The Doctor of Education is an advanced professional doctorate for experienced professionals with educational responsibilities. Carefully designed to parallel their regular work, the course enables experienced educators to carry out advanced academic and professional study which has direct relevance to their professional role. It is undertaken over three years on a full-time basis or six years on a part-time basis.

Students who have completed the Doctor of Education should have:

• advanced their knowledge in areas of special significance to their profession;
• achieved an advanced level of education and professional development in respect to the operation, design and development of Victorian, Australian and other systems of education;
• been involved effectively in a program of study and research directly related to their professional settings and educational responsibilities;
• have participated in high level and systematic analysis of practical problems related to education in their profession through the application of appropriate discipline analysis and research methodology in a manner which has strong potential for changing professional practice;
• made a contribution to the wider theoretical and/or professional debates in the relevant field of study.

The first stage of the program consists of coursework and preparatory studies for the thesis.

Full time candidates complete their coursework component in their first year, part time candidates over their first and second years.

During their coursework component candidates complete 100 points of subjects:

• EDUC90620 Reading Educational Research
• EDUC90729 Conducting Educational Research
• 50 points of coursework electives (see below for details)
• EDUC90320 Doctoral Research Seminar
• EDUC90319 Doctor of Education Thesis Proposal

Candidates must gain at least an H2A average in the coursework component, including at least an H2A result in EDUC90319 DEd Thesis Proposal, to proceed to the thesis.

Candidates who are not permitted to proceed to thesis but have completed the coursework component may apply to be awarded a Master of Education degree.

The second stage of the program consists of a 55,000 word thesis.

Full time students complete their thesis over their second and third years, part time students over years three to six.

In the six months prior to submission of their thesis candidates must present their research findings at a public Completion Seminar attended by their Advisory Committee.

Core subjects

Candidates must undertake the compulsory subjects EDUC90320 and EDUC90319 in the semester immediately prior to the commencement of the thesis (i.e. semester 2 of full-time enrolment, semester 4 of part-time enrolment).

Elective subjects

Candidates will complete 50 points of appropriate subjects from the Master of Education and the Melbourne Graduate School of Education's specialist masters courses for which they have the prerequisites.

Thesis

Detailed information on the thesis is available at Graduate Research Hub

1. In order to be considered for entry, applicants must have completed:

• a Masters degree or equivalent in the discipline of Education or a cognate field relevant to the proposed area of study with at least an H2A average over the course; and
• five years of documented work or teaching experience in a field relevant to the proposed area of study;
• evidence of capacity to undertake research*.

Meeting these requirements does not guarantee selection.

2. In ranking applications, the Selection Committee will consider:

• prior academic performance; and
• the professional experience; and
• the capacity to undertake research.

3. The Selection Committee may seek further information to clarify any aspect of an application in accordance with the Academic Board rules on the use of selection instruments.

4. The minimum English language requirements for this course are Band 7 English language requirements.

*Applicants are normally required to have completed a research project, component, subject or group of subjects that accounts for at least 25% of their work (i.e. Honours year), or 25% of one year accumulated over the length of a Masters course, and which has, or have, been conducted, and assessed, individually. Research carried out in groups should at least have been graded individually. This project, component, or subject(s) may include:

(a) any obviously research oriented project, subject or sustained piece of scholarly writing conducted for assessment, such as small theses, research essays, long essays, or studios; AND/OR

(b) any less-obviously research subjects, including practice-based subjects such as performance or fieldwork, where there is also scholastic rigor as documented in a sustained piece of writing analogous to (a); AND/OR

(c) any subjects directed at the formation of research skills, such as methodology and reasoning, such as scientific reasoning, or legal reasoning, where a sustained piece of writing has also been produced.

The Melbourne Graduate School of Education welcomes applications from students with disabilities. It is University and Graduate School policy to take reasonable steps to enable the participation of students with disabilities, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student’s participation in the Graduate School’s programs.

The core participation requirements for study in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education are:

In all courses

1. The ability to comprehend complex information related to education and the disciplines in which the student is teaching.
2. The ability to communicate clearly and independently in assessment tasks a knowledge of the content, principles and practices relating to education and other relevant disciplines.
3. Behavioural and social attributes that enable a student to participate in a complex learning environment. Students are required to take responsibility for their own participation and learning. They also contribute to the learning of other students in collaborative learning environments, demonstrating interpersonal skills and an understanding of the needs of other students. Assessment may include the outcomes of tasks completed in collaboration with other students.
   

Students who feel a disability will prevent them from meeting the above academic requirements are encouraged to contact the Disability Liaison Unit.

Doctoral degrees at the University of Melbourne seek to develop graduates who demonstrate academic leadership, increasing independence, creativity and innovation in their research work.

The University expects its doctoral graduates to have the following qualities and skills:

• an advanced ability to initiate research and to formulate viable research questions;
• a demonstrated capacity to design, conduct and report sustained and original research;
• the capacity to contextualise research within an international corpus of specialist knowledge;
• an advanced ability to evaluate and synthesize research-based and scholarly literature;
• an advanced understanding of key disciplinary and multi-disciplinary norms and perspectives relevant to the field;
• highly developed problem-solving abilities and flexibility of approach;
• the ability to analyse critically within and across a changing disciplinary environment;
• the capacity to disseminate the results of research and scholarship by oral and written communication to a variety of audiences;
• a capacity to cooperate with and respect the contributions of fellow researchers and scholars;
• a profound respect for truth and intellectual integrity, and for the ethics of research and scholarship;
• an advanced facility in the management of information, including the application of computer systems and software where appropriate to the student's field of study;
• an understanding of the relevance and value of their research to national and international communities of scholars and collaborators;
• an awareness where appropriate of issues related to intellectual property management and the commercialisation of innovation; and
• an ability to formulate applications to relevant agencies, such as funding bodies and ethics committees.

The University provides a variety of opportunities in addition to the supervised research program, to facilitate a students' acquisition of these attributes.

Application Procedure: http://education.unimelb.edu.au/study_with_us/how_to_apply

Scholarships: Information about graduate research scholarships offered by the University of Melbourne is available from the Melbourne Scholarships Office.