
Doctor of Education (EdD) in Transformative Learning for the Global Community |
2025-2026 DRAFT GRADUATE STUDIES CATALOG
Effective 1 June 2025 through 31 May 2026
Please see the Graduate Catalog Archives for PDF versions of past catalogs.
This program is offered by the School of Education and is available asynchronous online.Ìý
Admission to this program is offered once a year in the Fall 1 term.
Program Description
ºÚÁÏÍø's Doctor of Education (EdD) in Transformative Learning in the Global
Community is an interdisciplinary program designed for educators, administrators,
and practitioners from various academic backgrounds.
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The EdD is based on a scholar-practitioner model with a well-rounded program for fostering
transformative scholarship, research and leadership among candidates who aspire to
make a difference in today's world. The program is built with a holistic framework
with four foci: theory, research, practice and leadership. The program values social
consciousness, criticality and advocacy. Social consciousness corresponds to the connectedness
of the dissertation projects to the sociopolitical, socioeconomic and sociocultural
contexts. Criticality refers to doctoral students' critical thinking and analytical
capacity to challenge the status quo and create new proposals for advancing the knowledge
base and specialty area. Advocacy reminds students to take the findings from their
research projects to the next level and become a voice and advocate for the people
for whom they represent and care. ºÚÁÏÍø's doctoral program also values
projects which engage in cross-cultural research with global contextual relevancy.
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The program duration is approximately three years (maximum is seven). Students take
coursework in the first two years and complete a dissertation or doctoral digital
portfolio in the third, with the exception of students with a conferred Educational
Specialist (EdS) degree. Students admitted with a conferred EdS are waived 15 credit
hours, equivalent to one year of coursework. Students will need special permission
from the Dean if the duration of study exceeds seven years.
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Note: This program does not lead to initial teacher or administrator certification through
the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
Learning Outcomes
The doctor of education develops scholars, scholar-practitioners, and leaders with expertise in research and scholarship through coursework with social conscious perspectives. The program provides learning opportunities for students to develop academic competency through theory building, practical application of research knowledge in school settings and leadership skills. The EdD program enables students to:
- Investigate and critically analyze current affairs, issues, theoretical issues, empirical studies, practice and policy in educational settings.
- Read and write with synthetic and analytical competence for applying complex theories in research and publishing in respected peer-reviewed journals and other publication venues in the field.
- Conduct research for pushing boundaries in a specialty area in education and shed new light in the building of knowledge base.Ìý
- Reflect on the status quo in educational settings and offer data-driven and evidence-based solutions and proposals.
- Develop leadership skills to become a voice and advocate for the people they respect.
- Demonstrate respect of diversity through their ability to facilitate and model collaborative inquiry for advancing social and institutional change.
Program Requirements
This program requires at least two years of advanced coursework prior to the successful completion of a comprehensive exam, a prospectus and a dissertation or a doctoral digital portfolio, except students with conferred EdS degree. Students admitted with a conferred EdS degree are waived 15 credit hours, equivalent to one year of coursework.
Required Courses
- EDOC 7120 Global Histories and Politics in Education (3 hours)
- EDOC 7130 Transformative Lens in Educational Technologies (3 hours)
- EDOC 7140 Transformative Leadership in Education: Equity and Ethics (3 hours)
- EDOC 7150 Social Justice and Transformative Learning in Global Education (3 hours)
- EDOC 7001 Doctoral Writing Seminar (3 hours)
- EDOC 7002 Quantitative Research Methods (3 hours)
- EDOC 7003 Qualitative Research Methods (3 hours)
- EDOC 7004 Prospectus and Dissertation Writing (3 hours)
or EDOC 7005 Research Design for Doctoral Digital Portfolio (DDP) (3 hours) - EDOC 7901 Doctoral Apprenticeship (3 hours)
- EDOC 7902 Comprehensive Exam and Project Proposal (3 hours)
- EDOC 7903 Residency for Online Program^ (0 hours)
- EDOC 8000 Doctoral Dissertation Research and Writing^ (10 hours)
or a two-course sequence of EDOC 8001 Doctoral Digital Portfolio (DDP) I (5 hours) and EDOC 8002 Doctoral Digital Portfolio (DDP) II (5 hours)^^ - EDOC 8020 Publication of Doctoral Project (0 hours)
^Students in the online program are required to complete a two-day residency EDOC 7903, as noted by the program director.Ìý
^^Students who do not complete dissertation writing or doctoral digital portfolio
with 10 hours of EDOC 8000 or 10 hours of EDOC 8001 and EDOC 8002 will take EDOC 8010
Doctoral Project Completion (1 hour) until completion.Ìý
Notes: i) The alternative route to dissertation, EDOC 7005, 8001, and 8002 are available
to students admitted from 2022 onwards only.
Total: 40 credit hours (excludes prerequisites, requisites, practica, fieldwork, internships or service learning)
Admission
See the Admission section of this catalog for general admission requirements. Students interested in applying must submit their application online at www.webster.edu/apply.ÌýTranscripts should be sent from your institution electronically to transcripts@webster.edu.ÌýIf this service is not available, send transcripts to:
Office of Admission
ºÚÁÏÍø
470 E. Lockwood Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63119Ìý
Additional Requirements
Requirements for admission to the doctor of education program include:
- Official transcripts from all universities, colleges and professional schools.Ìý
- Transcripts showing evidence of a bachelor's degree and a master's degree completion.
- Cumulative GPA of 3.0 for graduate coursework.
- Three (3) letters of recommendation*.Ìý
- An interview may be required.
*These required materials must be electronically uploaded to the application account.
Application Process
The doctoral program will admit a cohort every year depending on the enrollment and
availability of courses. Domestic and international applicants must submit all required
documents by July 1st for a Fall start. International students may complete the online program in the countries
where they reside. F1 student visa will not be sponsored. International applicants
need to submit required application materials according to International Admissions,
except for documents that pertain only to F1 student visa sponsorship.
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Students with a conferred EdS degree will be waived 15 credit hours and may be admitted
with the rest of the cohort, but begin in the odd year.Ìý
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The admission packet will be reviewed, and if considered appropriate, an interview
will be scheduled with the Doctoral Admissions Committee. The committee may require
the applicant to provide other materials to speak to the readiness of the applicant
for the EdD program. Should the committee find weaknesses in certain academic areas,
the applicant may be strongly advised to take additional coursework that will not count toward the degree requirements.Ìý
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The applicant must successfully complete an interview with the Doctoral Admissions
Committee during which the applicant presents their research interest.
Advancement to Doctoral Candidacy
Doctoral students who completed all coursework requirements before taking EDOC 8000 or the EDOC 8001-8002 sequence will take the comprehensive examination in the course EDOC 7902. Students who have passed the comprehensive examination will earn the status of doctoral candidacy. Students not advanced to doctoral candidacy are not eligible to continue in their programs. Advancement to doctoral candidacy indicates that a student shows the requisite capacity and dedication to complete the program.
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