Professional Doctorate in Practical Theology

What is Professional Doctorate in Practical Theology?

Professional doctorates are designed to take explicit account of the work or practice-based setting of participating students as a central component (and knowledge-base) of an advanced research project. This reflects the need for structured forms of professional development in many areas of the public, private and voluntary sector.

The programme is therefore designed to introduce you to a range of dynamic and challenging concepts and methods with which to reflect critically and constructively on your current experience and context. Two approaches in particular will be used: firstly, practice-based research and enquiry-based learning methods, in which participants' own professional context becomes a primary research resource.

Secondly, you will be encouraged to keep a research log, or learning journal. This may take the form of a diary, or portfolio or other personal record, and is designed to encourage you to keep a record of your reading and research, cultivate your writing skills and integrate your theoretical work with sustained reflection on your own practical context. Elements of this journal will be submitted for assessment.

The qualification is particularly aimed at participants across a range of contexts and institutions:

* Public sector professions, such as health care, education, social services;
* Those working in the caring professions, such as psychotherapy and counselling, social work and community development;
* Ministers of religion, in parish, congregational or chaplaincy settings
* Those working for charities, non-governmental organizations or in cultural industries or the arts;
* Those in industry or business wishing to deepen their understanding of the ethical and theological dimensions of their professional and/or voluntary practice.

Award of the doctoral degree will be via submission of a research portfolio, with structured assignments and deadlines. Participants will be assessed on their ability to generate new perspectives, data, paradigms in the engagement between religious, ethical and spiritual world-views and a range of professional and practical contexts.

In addition to regular supervisions with a tutor, participants will undertake up to three residential workshops and 4 day conferences per year with a peer group covering all aspects of the discipline of practical Theology. Sessions will include work on research skills and methodology, practical exercises in enquiry-based learning and lectures, seminars and student-led discussions.

The programme will also feature an international summer school each July, drawing together students on Professional Doctorate in Practical Theology programmes from other participating universities.

How is the programme structured?

Length of Study: The programme is available over 3-6 years part-time.

Workload and student support:

For part-time students, we will expect you to set aside around 6-8 hours for independent work per week. That will include research and reading, and maintaining a regular research journal.

In addition, you will be assigned a personal supervisor, who will want to see you approximately six times per academic year.

You will also receive support via the regular seminars. These comprise two residentials and 4 day conferences in the academic years.

The programme will be taken in two Stages:

* Stage I: ACTION- RESEARCH PORTFOLIO. Up to 3 years part-time
o Unit 1:KEY VOICES: Literature review
The aim of this unit is to offer a foundation in the field of practical theology, by introducing participants to debates, methods and writers in the discipline. You will be expected to:
+ Conduct a literature review (totalling 7,000 words) in the field of practical theology in a way that demonstrates an understanding of methodological issues associated with reflection on practice and context
+ This should present an informed critique of the methods and assumptions of other scholars in practical theology using appropriate academic skills and conventions of presentation.
o Unit 2: PUBLISHABLE ARTICLE
The overall aim of this unit is to examine the elements and stages involved in publishing aspects of your research. You will be asked to:
+ Select a topic of research suitable to the production of a 7,000 word research report or article in a significant area of the academic discipline of practical theology and or/area of professional practice
+ Demonstrate through the exploration of that topic a capacity for independent, original and in depth thinking
+ Relate that topic to appropriate context(s) of practice
+ Select and justify research method(s) appropriate to the investigation of that topic
+ Communicate the findings of that research clearly and effectively in verbal form to peers, by means of a seminar paper, subsequently revised for publication
o Unit 3: Establishing advanced research practice in practical theology
1. RESEARCH PROPOSAL
In this part of the unit, you will be invited to develop a research proposal (7,000 words) for an advanced piece of research in the field of practical theology that demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the issues, questions and methods that are particularly relevant to the context and performance that you wish to study in Stage II.
2. REFLECTION ON PRACTICE
You will also be asked to reflect critically on your own development as a researcher and practitioner in practical theology by submitting portions of your Learning Journal.
* Stage II: RESEARCH DISSERTATION
A thesis (50,000-60,000 words), which will contain the following elements:
o Presentation of your research, indicating how it may be evaluated as an original contribution to the discipline of Practical Theology
o A critical evaluation of the contribution which this research makes to your context of professional practice
o Further critical account and analysis of your own intellectual and professional development during the course of the research.