Earning an EdD in Adult Education: Advancing Your Career in Lifelong Learning

Adult education is rapidly evolving, and advanced programs are needed to prepare educators for the demands of a changing landscape. Online EdD programs in Adult Education offer opportunities for professionals to enhance their skills, address challenges, and drive innovation in the field. These programs equip students with advanced research methodologies to both investigate and address problems of practice in the field.

The Growing Importance of Adult Education

Adult education has become more accessible than ever, due to online learning technologies that make attending school while maintaining a full-time job more feasible. As employers’ needs have evolved rapidly across industries, many adults are returning to the campus or virtual classroom in order to stay competitive in an ever-changing workforce.

Teaching adults presents a number of unique challenges. For example, adults seeking continuing education often have to balance significant life responsibilities (e.g. job, family life) with schooling and face different types of equity-related education challenges relative to younger learners.

What is an Online EdD in Adult Education?

Online EdD in Adult Education programs help prepare educators and other professionals with the knowledge and skills to not only effectively teach adult students, but also drive innovation in lifelong learning. There are currently a number of schools that offer online Doctor of Education (EdD) programs with a specialization in Adult Education. Graduates of online EdD programs in Adult Education can put their scholarly practitioner training to use in a wide range of settings, from college or vocational instruction to technical or corporate training programs, taking on diverse leadership roles where they support adult learners in achieving their goals.

Program Structure and Curriculum

Students looking to pursue an EdD in Adult Education online have a number of options to choose from. This particular specialization may go by different names at different schools, and be offered as its own degree program, or as a concentration option within a more general Teaching or Educational Leadership program.

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Online EdD programs in Adult Education generally consist of anywhere from 40 to 70 credit hours. Most students can expect to complete their degree in around three to five years of study.

Core Courses

Core courses in an Adult Education EdD program tend to focus on advanced study of fundamental theories and principles in the field, as well as qualitative and quantitative research methods students might use in completing their dissertation. Understanding adult learning begins with considering its historical and theoretical roots, and current and past methods. A course might focus on the theoretical and philosophical foundations, approaches, assumptions, lived experiences, theories, and applications that has given voice to adult learning as a vibrant field of study and its efficacy in diverse adult educational and professional settings. Learners will apply the vast literature on adult learning theory and practice to real-world scenarios in various workforce and educational settings.

Specialized Coursework

Once students have completed core courses, they typically move into more specialized coursework, studying specific topics and skills in the field of adult education instruction and program leadership. Adults learn best from leaders, managers, educators, and trainers who possess a clear understanding of the learning needs and professional objectives of adult learners. A course might allow learners to explore the theoretical underpinnings, real-world approaches, modalities, instructional design, learning environments, assessment, and evaluation necessary in adult learning situations. Learners will also examine their philosophical orientations and teaching/learning styles to better understand the role they have as instructors of adults.

Leaders and managers in education, industry, military, business, health and social sectors, and non-profit organizations improve organizations by implementing training that consists of critical elements in adult education: learner needs, learner readiness, educational setting, modality, capacity for self-direction, real-world application, and human resource development. A course might allow learners to explore how to incorporate these elements when planning programs in disparate professional settings.

Effective leadership skills are crucial for organizations. Today’s leaders and managers must possess leadership competencies that address the unique learning needs of adult learners and inspire them toward further self-direction in their own leadership and professional development. A course might allow learners to explore the specific leadership skills necessary to lead and inspire adult learners to advance organizational change, promote diversity, implement collaborative thinking, and explore ethical considerations.

Effective adult trainers and educators promote and embrace the essential adult education concept and practice of lifelong learning. The pursuit of excellence in adult instruction and training should be a personal and professional goal. A course might allow learners to use self-directed learning approaches to explore how they look to their own continual learning and development through emerging adult learning methods and practices.

Critical thinking has rightly emerged as a crucial skill and disposition for the adult professional. The lateral coordination of organizations and teams, the realities of the global economy, and the need for ethical leadership, has reinforced the call for adults to become expert critical thinkers. A course might allow learners to explore the theories, definitions, and skills of critical thinking. Learners will explore the effective ways critical thinking promotes positive adult learning situations and enhances adults’ listening, problem-solving, dialogic, and question-asking skills.

An essential component of any adult education program is its assessment and evaluation. The evaluative process of an adult educational or training program includes the content, instruction, setting, and agreed upon outcomes. Moreover, educators and trainers of adults must be able to assess and evaluate the preparation, execution, and results of the programs, professional development, or training sessions. With adult learning theory and practice as the source and guide, learners will attain knowledge of the key elements that are involved in effective and authentic adult program evaluation.

Both adult educators and learners must recognize the ubiquitous nature of technology and its importance in adult learning. A course might focus on the ways adult educators and learners leverage current and emerging technologies in educational and working environments. Learners will explore how information and communication technologies (ICTs) enhance key adult learning concepts, to include self-directed learning, learner autonomy, and motivation.

Elective Courses

Finally, some EdD programs give students the opportunity to customize their studies by choosing one or more elective courses, allowing them to explore particular interests or career skills that may not be covered in the standard curriculum. These electives might be additional offerings from the same department as the EdD program or come from another department at the school, pending approval of program faculty. Electives include, but may not be limited to, additional courses in adult learning and adult development, conflict resolution, policy and evaluation, technology for learning, and management/information systems. These are tailored to the student’s career goals and may be taken in the Department or elsewhere in Teachers College or Columbia University. Students are required to take a minimum number of credits total at Teachers College outside of our immediate Program area to satisfy the Teachers College breadth requirement.

Dissertation

Most online EdD programs in Adult Education culminate in completion of a dissertation, where students demonstrate their mastery of concepts covered in the curriculum by performing original research on an issue in the field. Students work on this extensive research project throughout their studies, typically under the guidance of a faculty advisor or dissertation committee, and ultimately present their findings in the form of a multipage document. Some programs also require students to defend their dissertation orally, which entails explaining their rationale and analysis in front of a panel of faculty members. In order to help with the dissertation process, most EdD programs include one or more courses dedicated specifically to dissertation research and development.

At this stage of the Applied Dissertation Project (ADP) for the EdD, learners will finish their research study. During this process, learners become scholar-practitioners committed to discovering solutions and recommendations to challenges in work environments. The ADP consists of three parts: a dissertation to be submitted, personal reflection, and presentation. Learners will defend their ADP in an oral defense to the School of Education teaching staff.

Career Opportunities

There are a wide range of careers one might pursue with an EdD in Adult Education. Not surprisingly, many graduates find work in education, taking on teaching or administrative positions at two- or four-year colleges, universities, professional schools, or trade schools. Depending on their background and area of expertise, they might also lead technical training programs, or training and development initiatives for companies or other organizations.

College Administrator: There are a variety of positions in higher education leadership well suited to those with a degree in adult learning, particularly at junior or community colleges, which tend to enroll a higher number of adult students.
Vocational School Director: These administrators manage technical or trade schools, where students learn hands-on skills specific to a certain profession or field of study, such as auto repair or healthcare.
Training and Development Manager: These professionals oversee and coordinate employee training programs for businesses and other organizations, either as a part of the organization themselves or an outside party.
Professor: With an EdD, graduates might also go on to teach at a college or university, either in the field of adult education itself, passing on their knowledge and furthering research in adult learning, or in another subject, instructing adult students at the postsecondary level.

Program Examples

University of St. The Master of Education in Adult and Higher Education is offered fully online in partnership with College of Education and Ecampus.
The Ed.M. The coursework for the Adult and Higher Education (AHE) Ed.D.
The Ed.D. in Adult and Higher Education is offered in a hybrid format in partnership with the College of Education and Ecampus. During the first two years of this program, students will meet and study with a learning cohort both in person and online.
The Ph.D. The Ph.D. recently underwent curriculum and program updates. The coursework includes a focus on research and equity, guiding students to generate new knowledge in the field of higher education. The Ph.D. in Adult and Higher Education is offered as a full-time, traditional, on-ground program. Classes will be offered in Corvallis, meeting multiple days per week throughout the term.
The Online EdD in Adult Learning Program responds to the needs of higher education administrators, K-12 educators, adult education instructors, adult education curriculum developers, corporate trainers, and instructional designers by offering a real-world program of study. The online program is designed to equip professionals with the essential instructional and training strategies necessary for adults working in industry, education, healthcare, and non-profit organizations. Based on a rigorous and meaningful program of study that culminates in a research-based dissertation, doctoral students will acquire knowledge in adult learning theory and practice; learn to develop programs that specifically respond to the learning needs of adults; and master leadership and management skills that address the dynamic changes in organizations and the global challenges impacting the current adult workforce.
The Adult Learning & Leadership degree program, at the Ed.D. level, is designed for professionals who wish to develop their skills in helping adults learn inside and outside the classroom, and hone their leadership abilities. The intellectual framework of the program examines the relationship of adult learning to organizational, management and leadership issues. The program prepares scholar-practitioners who examine practice in light of theory, and vice versa, in ways that enable them to lead, assess, and plan strategically for adult learning programs and interventions. Students master research skills that support their leadership in helping individuals to learn more effectively, and in helping organizations to learn from and with those adults. Coursework is primarily in person but some courses can and should be taken in hybrid and online formats given the dominance of digital learning in work and life. The EdD requires credits of coursework, a certification examination, a qualifying paper, and a dissertation.
The Doctor of Education (EdD) degree in Adult Education and Human Resource Development prepares advanced professionals to facilitate individual, organizational, and career development and advancement of adults in the nation and the world. Graduates of the program are equipped to administer, design, and facilitate programs for adult clients, employees, volunteers, students, and associates of profit and non-profit organizations. The program seeks applicants who are highly motivated and capable of meeting the challenges of a rigorous doctoral education.
Regent’s Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) - Adult Education equips current and aspiring organizational and institutional decision-makers with the knowledge and skills to design, implement and evaluate professional development programs for adult populations. On completing the Ed.D.
The Ed.D. degree helps future and current leaders develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to solve problems of practice and improve instructional quality. Graduates will learn to be change agents who improve the lives of students and their families and communities. The program is specifically designed for working professionals, providing a sequence of coursework and hands-on leadership experiences along with individualized mentoring. Designed with full-time working professionals in mind, the program is designed to be completed in three years to four years. The program is hybrid with more than half of the program being delivered online. All classes are held in the evenings. The Rutgers GSE EdD Program is one of the founding members of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) whose mission “is to transform the Education Doctorate (EdD) by making it more practical and applicable for educational leaders across various sectors.

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