Hi there. I'm currently a secondary teacher and assistant head and I'm doing a part-time EdD alongside my full time job. I love doing both to be honest but there are significant differences.
The PhD would involve significantly more time working completely independently. Personally I really enjoy the face to face contact I have with students, colleagues, parents etc and love that part of the job. I also love the solitary work of reading research, reflecting on this smell looking at ways to improve my practice. I find doing both means I get better results from both as a result.
I suppose it would make a sifference what you intended to do the PhD in and whether you wanted to teach as part of your student ship to undergrads.
I think the transition is certainly doable and you'll be very good at managing your time but you need to think about what your end goal is. Why do the PhD? If it's hust a way out f teaching then you'll probably find it doesnt give you want you want.

Thank you so much for your response. I hadn't thought of the Learnign Skills Council or charities. I shall definintely look into it.

Thanks again

feelingfestive

Shameless bump! Please anyone?!

Thanks

Hi all

Well, after all of your excellent advice about my proposal for the EdD course at Exeter I have submitted my application however, I'm really struggling with funding. I am lucky that my school is giving some money towards the EdD but it won't cover all of the tuition fees. I know it sounds like I'm ungrateful for the support but I've recently taken on a larger mortgage and got engaged so I'm saving for a wedding and I just can't afford the extra money for tuition fees as well. I'm quite gutted really. I've been looking into scholarships and funding but nothing relates specifically enough to my area and I don't want to to the EdD in an area that I'm not interested in just to say that I've done it! I think it would be a very hard 6 years if I did that.
Sorry for the moan but I was wondering if any of you had any brilliant ideas about how I could fund my studies? Maybe you have some clever system that I haven't thought about. I work full time as a teacher so I'm not really able to get a second income to supplement my salary.

Thanks

feelingfestive

Hi there

I am just about to embark on my PhD so I can only give advice from my studies so far! I think that what you are feeling is perfectly normal! Don't panic, you are not supposed to be an expert in the first year - that's why they give you 3 (or more!). Just keep plugging away and you'll soon realise that you know more than you think.
It's also quite normal to feel demotivated. I think this is mostly due to not really knowing where to start when there is so much to do. Break everything down into tiny tasks of about 25/30mins. Then work through them and give yourself a treat at the end i.e a cup of tea (in my case!) or chocolate or even ten mins of a programme online that you can pause and go back to. There was a really good thread on here a couple of days ago about motivation and techniques to help overcome sluggishness!
Good luck!

feelingfestive!

Hi there
I'll give you a line that my Dad used to say to me when I was really struggling to get going!
"Man up, head down, and get on!"
Not strictly PC or fair and I always felt he didn't understand why I was finding it so hard but later on I've ralised he was kind of right and I do use it myself. GIve yourself a firm talking to, get your head down and get on with it!

feelingfestive

Firstyl, Calm Down! I haven't been through the Viva process myself as I am just embarking on my EdD however, it is clear from your post that you already know what you need to do! You need to defend the work that you have done. Write a list of all the thingst that your thesis has acheived. That way you've got a good basis. Yes, they will see the issues and corrections but hopefully if you defend your position strongly enough you'll just have them down as minor. If they're major corrections then fine, hopefully you're now in a better frame of mind to be able to complete them.
I don't know what effect having major corrections has on your future career in academia but there must be hundreds of other doctoral studies which get major corrections and need more time.

feelingfestive

Hi all

Thought I'd bump thread a bit but also introduce myself and my goals. I've been lurking on this thread for a little while and I have found it really interesting to see how much you manage to get done in a day and also how you approach the issues of motivation and enthusiasm every day.
So, on to me and my goals. This year I plan to be accepted onto the EdD part time course at Exeter University. The aim is to be accepted and then being the course in July. I'm really looking forward to getting started and can't wait for the week residential in July that will kick start everything. In the meantime though I am trying to get onto the course. I intend to teach full time whilst completing the course and whilst I know this will be a huge amount of work I don't have kids yet and I do have the best fiancee in the world who is incredibly supportive of my dreams. So the plan for today and the week really is to complete my application and upload it onto the online application process.

Hope 2013 is going well for all so far.

feelingfestive

Hi all

Well, after your fabulous advice a few months ago I have decided to apply for the EdD at Exeter University on a part time system for 6 years. So, I have written my research proposal (500 word limit) which my supervisor from my Masters has helped me with but now the application is asking for "a brief statement explaining your reasons for undertaking the EdD and how it will like with your professional practice." This is the bit I'm a bit stuck on. I have written the main reasons I want to do it so I've included that I think my area of research will benefit my school and hopefully educational thinking on a wider level. I've also added that I want to do it out of curiosity and interest and the fact that I'm a really hard worker so I think I could manage the workload. I also added my long term career goals and stated how I think the EdD will benefit my long term plan. However, this only comes to 350 words so I'm not sure I've written enough. Does anyone have any idea how much you think I should be writing for this section? Do you think what I've written about is what they're looking for?
I've now set my heart on completing the EdD so I really don't want to mess it up at the application stage!

Thanks in advance for any replies

feelingfestive

Hi Pjlu
THank you so much for your reply. I'm certainly expecting it to be hard work but I didn't want to overface myself so much that I made my life and doing my job properly impossible.
By the sounds of it, it is worth doing so I think I'm going to go for it! All I need to do now is convince my school that they would really like to fund it!

Thanks again
feelingfestive

So...hello all. I'm looking for a bit of advice really. I'm in a position where I think I would like to apply for the EdD that is offered at Exeter University. It's 6 year part time and I would need to continue teaching secondary history full time in order to fund it.
I am really after advice about the workload. I know noone who has done a doctorate part time so I haven't really got a reference point. I was wondering if anyone here has complete the EdD whilst working and how they found it alongside their jobs.
Thanks in advance
feelingfestive