Counseling and Development
Counseling, PhD
The PhD in Education degree is specifically for professional practitioners in education, including those in public or private schools, community or government agencies, professional associations, and other education-related settings. Like other education doctorates, this degree program includes study and practice of educational and counseling research as well as study and application of theory and practice in the fields of education and counseling.
This program provides an advanced professional education designed to:
- Improve knowledge and skills useful in current or planned educational and counseling roles, and
- Improve the ability to analyze current social, economic, political, and ethical issues and concerns in their relationship to various educational and community situations and activities.
The doctoral program is individualized, interdisciplinary, and experiential. Students, with the guidance of faculty advisers, plan their own programs to meet self-defined goals. To accomplish these goals, students engage in a variety of intensive courses, independent studies, seminars, and internships of a highly practical nature. Success in the program requires a high degree of personal initiative, self-directed learning, and commitment to inquiry as a style of personal and professional growth.
Program Structure
The program requires a minimum of 85 credits of study beyond the baccalaureate degree or a minimum of 55 credits beyond the master's degree. However, an individual's program typically requires 10 more credits depending on the person's goals, program requirements, and previous preparation. Students have five years to complete all course work and the portfolio reviews. Five additional years are allowed to complete the dissertation. Most students complete the entire program in five or six years.
Course Work
General Culture (8 credits)
Completion of the general culture studies provides students with broad concepts to pursue the specifics of their professional specialization. To accomplish these goals, all students enroll in two required core courses. In addition, all students enroll in a 1-credit seminar, during each of the first two semesters for a total of 8 credits. The general culture classes are taken in a cohort. The first semester, all entering students take EDUC 800 and EDUC 805.
- EDUC 800: Ways of Knowing (3 credit hours) (1st semester)
- EDUC 802: Leadership Seminar (3 credit hours) (3rd semester)
- EDUC 805: Research and Scholarship in Education (2 credit hours) (1st semester)
Research Methods (12 credits)
- EDRS 810 Problems and Methods in Education Research [3 credits]
- EDRS 811 Quantitative Methods in Education [3 credits]
- EDRS 812 Qualitative Methods in Education [3 credits]
- Research elective [3 credits]Choose one:
- EDRS 820 Evaluation Methods for Educational Programs and Curricula
- EDRS 821 Advanced Applications of Quantitative Methods
- EDRS 822 Advanced Applications of Qualitative Methods
- EDRS 823 Advanced Research Methods in Single Subject/Case Design
Professional Specialization (21 credits)
These courses differ according to a student's major specialization but always include three hours of internship credit.
- EDCD 895: Emerging Issues in Counseling and Development (3 credit hours)
- EDCD 896: Advanced Multicultural Counseling (3 credit hours)
- EDCD 897: Advanced Group Counseling (3 credit hours)
- EDCD 898: Grant Writing and Publishing (3 credit hours)
- EDCD 990: Advanced Internship in Counseling Leadership (3 credit hours)
- EDCD 991: Advanced Internship in Multicultural Counseling (3 credit hours)
- EDCD 992: Advanced Internship in Social Justice (3 credit hours)
Secondary Concentration Area (12 credits)
Students have a number of options for secondary concentrations including concentrations within the Graduate School of Education, within other George Mason University departments, interdisciplinary concentrations, or using the master's degree as part of the secondary concentration requirements.
Dissertation (12 credits)
- EDUC 998 Doctoral Dissertation Proposal [3 credits]
- EDUC 999 Doctoral Dissertation Research [9 credits]
Portfolio
Students complete an educational portfolio as part of the requirement of the Ph.D. program. The portfolio is an organized, selective collection of documents designed to facilitate a student's academic and professional development, and to provide a basis for evaluation degree progress. The portfolio represents the scope and depth of a student's goals, plans, and accomplishments in coursework, independent study, research, internships, and other advanced learning activities. The portfolio thus provides both a vehicle for self-reflection and a comprehensive record of a doctoral student's experiences and ongoing progress toward academic and professional goals.