Why introduce?
- I noticed MA students in missiology not progressing to PhD study. Most of these missiology graduates were practitioners who studied in order to reflect on practice and help improve their practice and that of others. The more abstract outcomes of a traditional PhD were not appealing to such a constituency.
- I wanted to enable reflection on missiological practice at doctoral level.
- I wanted to develop a programme that was in concept part-time study, rather than a full-time programme that could be taken in a part-time way. Consequently, ongoing reflection on practice is integral to the PhD in Missiology which cannot be taken full-time.
- I also recognised that for some studying with a cohort was important. The cohort gave a shared sense of identity, encouragement to be successful and peers to work with. Peer learning is increasingly part of PhD study, but it is integral to a professional doctorate.
Evaluation
It is too early for substantive evaluation, but what can be noted is that such a programme does generate research on practice, does seem to support practitioners, and encourages further practice and reflection, rather than a move away from practice. If this continues, many of the aims of the PhD Miss will have been realised.
Bibliography
QAA Doctoral Degree Characteristics, Sep 2011
NUS/QAA The UK Doctorate: A guide for current and prospective doctoral candidates, 2011
Fulton, Kuit, Sanders and Smith, The Professional Doctorate
(Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013)
Smith, N-J, Achieving your Professional Doctorate (Maidenhead: McGraw Hill, 2009)
References
[1] QAA Doctoral Degree Characteristics, Sep 2011, p. 12.
[2] QAA Doctoral Degree Characteristics, Sep 2011, p. 23.
[3] NUS/QAA The UK Doctorate: A guide for current and prospective doctoral candidates, 2011, p.3.
[4] Fulton, Kuit, Sanders and Smith, The Professional Doctorate (Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), p. 7.
[5] Smith, N-J, Achieving your Professional Doctorate (Maidenhead: McGraw Hill, 2009), p. 5.
[6] Fulton, Kuit, Sanders and Smith, The Professional Doctorate (Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), p. 9.
[7] QAA Doctoral Degree Characteristics, Sep 2011, p. 15.
[8] QAA Doctoral Degree Characteristics, Sep 2011, p. 15.
[9] Smith, N-J, Achieving your Professional Doctorate (Maidenhead: McGraw Hill, 2009), p. 5.