Evaluating the Feasibility of a Cross-Institutional Professional Doctorate in Practical Theology

The Professional Doctorate in Practical Theology: Developing the Researching Professional in Practical Theology in Higher Education

“…From the start, this project was a collaboration between a number of centres of excellence in practical theology in the UK, and it was always envisaged that the degree would be offered by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) working as far as possible in concert (Bennett, et al, 2007). The academic practitioners on the group developing the professional doctorate were initially in favour of a model of collaboration whereby a single award was jointly validated by several universities, but the views of colleagues in Registry and Quality Assurance departments prevailed and we have opted for a model in which each university autonomously offers a professional doctorate in practical theology according to its own Regulations and QA procedures, but within a national collaborative framework derived as closely as possible from national Quality Assurance Agency "D" level benchmarks (http://www.…”

The Learning and Teaching of Theology in the UK: Problems and Prospects for Overseas Students

“…From the outset, the intention was to 'explore the potential which practical theology has as a practice-oriented discipline for the work of the "researching professional" as opposed to the professional researcher'. 26 This was to be a 'non-traditional doctorate' delivered through 'collaborative means' and providing 'a clear alternative philosophy of pedagogy appropriate to our discipline', one that was also meant to overcome the obstacles inhibiting learning. 27 The stated aim of the new doctorate was to recruit professionals wanting to relate their spiritual, ethical and theological insights to their practice of ministry, and it was not to produce competent clergy but 'to assist in continuing personal and professional development of reflective practitioners across a range of contexts and institutions'.…”