Signature Pedagogies in Doctoral Education: Are They Adaptable for the Preparation of Education Researchers?

Source: Educational Researcher, Volume 36, Number 6, August, 2007.

This article describes two practices that can be considered signature pedagogies of doctoral education, one in neuroscience (the journal club) and one in English studies (the list). The practices are routinely found in these and neighboring disciplines but are not found in other fields. The journal club and the list share the goal of acquainting students with the literature of a field, but apart from that, they are very different.

In addition to teaching students to work with the literature, they serve other pedagogical goals, including socializing students into disciplinary norms and identities. Thus they serve as windows into the underlying culture of their home disciplines. This article considers the value of adapting these practices into education doctoral programs and offers suggestions for how to modify the practices to suit education.