1. Jisun Jung Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong Technology, Management and Policy Graduate Consortium 2014 Meeting Lisbon, Instituto Superior Tecnico, June 23-­ ‐ 25

2. Background: Doctoral Education The most specialized and knowledge-intensive form of education Socially: Fostering socially-robust knowledge and supplying talented people Individually: Professionalization and socialization as researchers However, “Current doctoral education is the worst designed education level among the existed programs” (Derek Bok, 2013)

3. Issues arisen from Doctoral Education Too narrow and specialized Too much focus on theory, not practical issues Not multi-disciplinary Not providing broad skills to be acquired by the students Not allowing collaborative work Separates itself off from industry High drop-out rate Source: Usher, R. (2002) A Diversity of doctorates: fitness for the knowledge economy. Higher Education Research and Development, 21(2): 143-53.

4. The jobs doctorate graduates do Illusion: Within universities there is often still an implicit assumption that the doctorate is preparation for an academic career. Reality: Yet for over a decade there has been evidence in a number of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries that there are increasing numbers of students undertaking a doctorate and that larger proportions of doctoral graduates are taking up nonacademic employment.(Neumann & Tan, 2011) Is it right direction to train someone to do research who is not going into professional research? Is research training in traditional way adapted to novel modes of knowledge production and in dealing with uncertainty?

5. A case: Doctoral training in Education Traditional doctoral trainingChanges StudentsStudents who seek to academic careerTeachers, teacher educators, principals, and other professions in Education Research problem From published theory and literatureFrom improvement needs of pragmatic problem in their own context Research question To answer a narrow theoretical questionTo answer two pragmatic questions: What’s the problem? What should we do about it? It generates multiple additional questions and inquiries. AimsTo prove a theoretical generalization to a scholarly audience To persuade organizational decision makers to act on a problem in specified ways (lessons learn, context, specification) FormatStandardized and regular chaptersAlternative formats OutcomeTo confirm “hypothesis”To guide changes with evidence and policy implications

6. A case: Uncertainty in Education Student: Demographic, behavioral and cognitive responses Classroom, Instructional content: “unpredictability” of classroom life Institution: management, leadership Assessment: no test is perfectly reliable and valid Environment Educational study should be contextualized. More adaptable, not-normative Requires multi-methods approach mixing qualitative and quantitative methods – often these methods alone are not enough to understand the problem

7. Challenges ……Has not been changed. Requirements Research themes Research methodology Still very disciplinary focused (compartimentalized) Why? Lack of programs and academics with practice and field of experiences Ideas, value, and culture: Against to alternative training methods How to change this situation? Development of alternative ways of curriculum and assessment Engagement of professions from outside university, including participatory risk governance

8. Thank you ! (jisun@hku.hk)