This paper examines the role of Professional Doctorates (PD) in the continuing development of education professionals. In particular its addresses the following research questions:

·         What are the significant relationships between people and contexts within a PD that impact upon the development of new professional knowledge?

·         How is such development related to the intended pedagogy of the PD programme and associated sites of learning (university, workplace, virtual spaces, personal spaces etc.) in a hybrid curriculum (Lee et al, 2000)?

·         What implications does this have for doctoral pedagogy in general?

Though still research degrees, PDs involve elements of direct pedagogical involvement with students (lectures, seminars etc.) and, often modular, assessments prior to a final thesis and viva voce examination. They are aimed at bringing ‘academic contributions together with needs of the economy and of work’ (Malfroy & Yates, 2003), leading to the development of both disciplinary knowledge and practice and have expanded rapidly in the UK over the last 15 years. Similar developments have taken place in the USA and Australia, though are rarer in the rest of Europe where the traditional PhD is still the accepted route.

Much of the research undertaken into PDs has focused on institutional and programme structures rather than the roles of people – students, professional colleagues and academics – within particular places  – university, workplace, home etc. (Stephenson et al, 2006). That is, research has tended towards forms of knowledge developed by professionals (e.g. Scott et al, 2004), students’ motivations for undertaking a PD (e.g. Wellington and Sikes, 2006) and the structures affording this development (e.g. Stephenson et al, ibid.), but has not considered in detail the pedagogical process through which this takes place. One of the main purposes of this research is to better understand the role this kind of doctoral education might play in professional practice; an important question in all national contexts as education becomes ever more market-led.

This paper makes a contribution to this field in the context of a Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD) programme. The research explores the extent to which participants can improve professional practice by bringing academic and research skills to bear on it, in particular, focusing on what appears to be important pedagogically for students in developing, changing and enacting professional knowledge. Specifically, it highlights: relationships between people and contexts that impact upon the development of professional knowledge; how such development is related to the pedagogy (intended and experienced) and associated sites of learning; and how changed understanding is related to new ways of acting and of identification within the workplace.

The paper draws on, amongst others: Eraut (2004, 2007) in conceptualising learning in non-formal contexts; more generally on sociocultural theory (Wenger, 1998; Engestrom, 1999) in understanding students’ development as a process of changing professional and academic identity; and on Bourdieu (e.g. Bourdieu and Passeron, 1990) in recognising and responding to the ways in which the programme raises participants’ awareness of the organisational, historical, situational and policy contexts within which their professional learning occurs.

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