Community-Engaged Faculty: A Must for Preparing Impactful Ed.D. Graduates

Abstract

Since its inception nine years ago, CPED members have re-envisioned and implemented a new purpose for the professional practice doctorate in education, or Ed.D. This new purpose is grounded in the goal of preparing doctoral students to serve as scholarly practitioners, those who engage community as stakeholders in the process of improving problems of practice. Forming practitioners to be leaders in their communities under the CPED framework requires faculty who look beyond traditional roles by embEd.D.ing themselves in communities to work alongside practitioners working to transform their communities. Unfortunately, at many institutions, community-engagement is considered counter-normative to the traditional interpretation of research, teaching, and service, though it need not be. This paper will discuss the implications of CPED's community-engagement principle for Ed.D. programs, institutional policies, and academic environments in which community-engaged faculty do their work and the importance of these faculty members in the design of the Education Doctorate.