Doctor of Education (EdD) (Specialised Area - Social Sciences in Education)

The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK)

Programme Aims and Objectives

The EdD programme is aimed at experienced educators and professionals in education settings who aspire to extend their expertise in a particular Specialized Area, and their professional knowledge in a broad range of educational contexts through core courses.

Upon the completion of the Programme, students should be able to:

• demonstrate an expert knowledge, understanding and competence in the Specialized Area and in the larger educational context;
• generate appropriate theoretical frameworks to address, analyse and propose innovative approaches to a broad range of educational issues;
• develop insights into research trends in the Specialized Area and demonstrate readiness to contribute to the professional literature in that field;
• effectively communicate concepts and theories within the Specialized Area to an audience of peers both locally and internationally;
• analyse educational policies, processes or practices from different perspectives critically; and
• demonstrate a thorough understanding of ethical practices within the Specialized Area.

Social Sciences in Education

The specialized area of Social Sciences in Education is designed for educators of all kinds and others who wish to pursue in-depth study and research into the social, political, and geographical contexts of schools and students at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, and who wish to enable their students to better understand these contexts. Ed.D. candidates will be supervised by academics in the Department of Social Sciences from the disciplines of sociology, political science, geography, and social sciences education with research and teaching expertise in the broad social issues of family, citizenship, minorities, climate change, religion, ethics, security, power, and education. Foundational coursework is offered in the areas of sociology of education (including issues of inequality, multiculturalism, and educational participation and attainment), gender and education (including issues related to the complexity of gender in structuring school culture, practices, organization and the interplay among gender, class, ethnicity, and sexuality), the politics of education (including issues in the politics of pedagogy and schools, schools as agents of political socialization, and student activism), geographies of education (including geography and education, environmental literacy, learning through travelling, and spatial patterns of education and schooling), and social science education in schools (including current issues in the design and implementation of social science curriculum and pedagogies in primary and secondary schools).

Specialized courses

• Sociology of Education
• Geographies of Education
• The Politics of Education
• Social Sciences Education in Schools
• Gender and Education