PhD/ Doctorate in Education

rawwrrrr

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone here has completed a PhD/ Doctorate in Education part time? It interests me but would like to hear honest accounts of how demanding it is alongside teaching.

endacl

What’s the advantage to having it?

judeboy101

endacl wrote: »

What’s the advantage to having it?

"sir why aren't you dr judeboy like dr Higgins our chemistry teacher?"

"well lads, if I had a PhD this would be the last place I'd be"

gaiscioch

rawwrrrr wrote: »

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone here has completed a PhD/ Doctorate in Education part time? It interests me but would like to hear honest accounts of how demanding it is alongside teaching.

Even if I were 21, single and with no kids, I wouldn't do it while holding down a teaching job. If you have little kids, don't go near this idea. You will get into a phase in your PhD where it of necessity consumes you so everything else will take second place. Can your energy levels and work/familial obligations afford that reality? Without those non-PhD demands and obligations, this can be a very exhilarating place to be. With them, it can be the opposite.

At any rate, the new structured PhD system would prevent you from working fulltime and doing a PhD. Most PhDs in Ireland now tend to be structured: this is the UCD structure. That means you will usually not have the freedom to work at your own pace while maintaining a job outside the PhD as you must attend classes and fulfil other timetabled course requirements. There still are some traditional PhDs offered in NUIG which would give you more freedom to hold down another job. However, I'm not sure if there is one in Education.

Both UCD and TCD only offer structured PhDs, according to their respective School of Education websites:

UCD: PhD in Education

TCD: PhD & Doctorate in Education

Against all this is the reality that the universities are money hungry and may possibly be willing to facilitate all sorts of proposals in order to get your fees. I'd find the area you're interested in, and the supervisor under whom you'd like to work, and contact them. There are some very innovative education professors abroad that would look good on your cv and definitely give you the lámh in uachtar when it comes to getting one of the rare tenure-track lecturing positions in Education here. Often, you could be based in Ireland but registered on a course in another country.

Thinking outside the box here, but if you would really like to do a PhD in Education, perhaps you could take a career break from teaching and see if the ASTI would employ you as a researcher while you are doing the structured PhD in Education? Additionally, there were small bursaries like this available for relevant research. There is loads of research needed to be done on Irish teachers, their working conditions and so on (which I've written about often in this forum). There are also smarter, more progressive ways to run an education system that don't smother us all with bullshít paperwork and meetings, and the ASTI needs the research to win the intellectual war on this one. If I had no mortgage and no young children, I'd personally love to get stuck into that.

Lastly, even if you were to get a PhD, you wouldn't get the €6,149 per annum PhD allowance so you have zero financial incentive.

Tom Dunne

Just finishing my EdD, though I am at third level.

You need to ask yourself what your motivations are for committing up to 7 years of your life to something like this.

For me, it was primarily the intellectual challenge in addition to it being of benefit to my career.

I would argue that particularly with EdDs (as opposed to structured PhDs), institutions are more flexible and are aware that all their students are studying part-time. Not to mention the massive attrition rate they need to keep under control. So fitting it around your work life/personal life can be managed if you are disciplined. You also need to find a topic that interests you and that will sustain your interest for a number of years.

Personally, I found it very rewarding and worthwhile. If you have any questions, fire away.

bobbyss

Tom Dunne wrote:

Personally, I found it very rewarding and worthwhile. If you have any questions, fire away.

What is an EdD? You mentioned it twice .

Tom Dunne

bobbyss wrote: »

What is an EdD? You mentioned it twice .

Doctorate of Education.