Sense and sensibility: making sense of a professional doctorate.

Authors: Fenge, L.-A.

Journal: Reflective Practice

Volume: 11

Issue: 5

Pages: 645-656

ISSN: 1462-3943

DOI: 10.1080/14623943.2010.516976

Abstract:

This paper offers a retrospective reflexive narrative of my experience of sensemaking and identity on a Professional Doctorate Programme. It discusses some of the challenges of professional doctoral learning, and some of the nuances of following a 'practitioner doctorate'. Sensemaking and habitus provide a method of conceptualizing how I positioned myself in relation to particular pre-existing discourses, and how this in turn influenced my identity as student/researcher/practitioner. The complexities of practitioner focused doctorates involve dealing with the ambiguity and uncertainty of multiple identities. Concluding comments include considering a Chair of Learner Identity, which is influenced by both structural and individual factors.

Source: Manual

Preferred by: Lee-Ann Fenge