Advancing Scientific Research in Education (2005) / Chapter Skim
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4 Enhancing Professional Development
4 Enhancing Professional Development
Pages 56-71
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From page 56... ...
Education researchers come from virtually every discipline and from many interdisciplinary specialties, reside in a great variety of institutions schools of education, university arts and science departments, and now even policy schools and schools of management, think tanks, and school systems and focus on an enormous array of research topics. Furthermore, novices in education research usually enter the field relatively late—beginning academic study of education research only when they become doctoral students.
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From page 57... ...
However, the real issue may not be one of quantity, but one of quality: Are cur cot and prospective education researchers capable of tackling the complex questions that policy makers and practitioners want answers to? And mote to the point: Are existing training and professional development activities producing a capable cadre of investigators?
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From page 58... ...
Further, the ongoing tension in doctoral programs in social work between the objective of preparing high-quality researchers to go to top schools and the objective of training faculty with broad knowledge and excellent teaching skills, who can work in social work programs ranging from very large to very small, is present in doctoral programs housed in schools of education. Furthermore, while some doctoral Frog ams in social work focus on clinical practice,
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From page 59... ...
as an organizing idea for our recommendations regarding doctoral programs for education tesearchers in schools of education. This initiative is supporting reforms in doctoral programs in a range of fields, including education, with The overarching goal of using doctoral training to develop a professional community widh shared norms, language, and ways of knowing.
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From page 60... ...
Some require participation in supervised research and preparation of a scholarly publication prior to graduation; odhets do not. As curtendy constituted, such doctoral programs do lithe to ensure That The preparation of education researchers meets at least a minimal standard of scholarly rigor.
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From page 61... ...
Several products will result from these efforts, including models of experimental doctoral programs, research and analysis of the sponsored efforts, and institutional and policy-level recommendations. Workshop: Key Speaker: A National Conversation About Doctoral Programs for Future Leaders in Education Research November 12, 2003 Transcript available at: hop // www7.
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From page 62... ...
Recommendation 10: Schools of education that tram doctoral students for careers im education research should design their programs to enable research students to develop deep substantive and methodological knowledge and skid in a specialized area In addition to facilitating a breadth of knowledge in education research among doctoral candidates, schools of education should also provide opportunities for students to develop a depth of expertise in selected subfields of education research. As students progress through their doctoral training, their course work and research experiences should hone their skills and understanding in the theoretical ideas, methodological tools, and existing research in the subfield they intend to pursue over the course of their careers It is in the development of deep expertise in subfields of education research that collaborations with disciplinary departments and other orga
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From page 63... ...
Eisenhart and her colleagues designed a set of core counses for their doctoral students in light of these facts: they explicitly sought to develop a common language, to convey and discuss a shared set of issues and arguments in the field, and to instill common norms and standards for the conduct of research. Eisenhart described several challenges in designing their curriculum, including the difficulty of balancing breadth and depth: the faculty believed that students should have a general understanding of the field of education and education research, but also develop deep expertise in a substantive area and a set of research methodologies.
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From page 64... ...
One strategy was to assemble a broadly representative planning committee and to offer multiple opportunities for faculty updates and input on the committee's work. The planning committee also received strong backing from the dean and the help of the Carnegie initiative on the Doctorate, a national effort to consider reforms i n 9 rad uate research training across a range of disciplines (see Box 4-1)
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From page 65... ...
Training education researchers exclusively in disciplinary departments robs the profession of a common core and can detach investigators from the central issues in education they espouse to study. Training education researchers exclusively in schools of education shuts students off from the social and behavioral sciences and
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From page 66... ...
Recommendation 11: Schools of education that tram doctored students for careers in education research shoudd provide all students with a variety of meaningE-d research experiences. It is hard to overstate the importance of providing regular and increasingly sophisticated opportunities to design and conduct education research in doctoral programs.
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From page 67... ...
Seasoned investigators active in education research can help facilitate The kinds of access, opportunities, and networking so critical to establishing junior researchers as contributors to Their profession. In doctoral programs for education researchers, traditional one-on-one mentoring might be augmented or even replaced by participation in interdisciplinary networks That connect faculty and students in schools of education widh Their peers in odher departments.
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From page 68... ...
Federad Agencies Professional development in education research does not begin or end with doctoral programs in schools of education. In this section we highlight participation in peer review panels in federal agencies that fund education research as an effective mechanism to provide ongoing p of essional development of education researchers at all stages of their careers.
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From page 69... ...
Opportunities for engaging panel members in activities Hat furdher Heir professional development are facilitated when panels include broad representation of ~1~ ant experience and expertise, when panel members deliberate togedher, and when time permits differences of perspective and position to be aired and debated. Such opportunities for developing investigators— bodh experienced and inexperienced with respect to sitting on review panels to She research edhos a e facilitated when dear requests for proposals are available and when good feedback is provided to proposers.
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From page 70... ...
Thus, the ideas we put forth about diversity with respect to proposal renew in federal agencies apply equally to manuscript review: encouraging highly qualified researchers from a range of backgrounds, perspectives, and career levels can promote a vibrant stock of published articles and facilitate growth and development among a wider range of scholars. The main difference is that professional development opportunities are likely to center largely on those submitting manuscripts, because reviewers and editors do not typically collaborate closely on renews of manuscripts and therefore have less opportunity for the interaction that is the core of professional development.
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From page 71... ...
Doctoral programs in schools of education, as well as participation in peer review within federal funding agencies and journals, play important roles in reinforcing the norms and standards of the community. However, in our view the professional development of education researchers is a critical area for sustained analysis.
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