Becoming scholarly practitioners: creating community in online professional doctoral education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although many professional education doctorates have traditionally been offered as blended programs, since spring 2020 there has been an upsurge in online teaching and learning. Using a theoretical lens guided by the community of inquiry framework, this qualitative study examined how a cohort of students (n = 15) in one professional education doctorate in the United States of America, which used a blended delivery prior to the pandemic, perceived the adapted pedagogies employed in an online course and the perceived effect of these strategies on learning and community. The results suggest the key role of purposeful teaching presence in establishing a community of inquiry in both large- and small-group environments. The article discusses the promise of critical friends groups in the doctorate and suggests formalizing its structure, specifically as it relates to peer feedback and support. It presents implications for blended professional education doctorates and underlines instructional strategies for field-based scholarly practitioner learning.