Group Dissertations as Leadership Learning

Abstract

This article shares rationales for group dissertations and offers practical descriptions of how they transpire in one Doctor of Education (EdD) program. Drawing on program experiences and data, it considers how group dissertations promote leadership learning and EdD program puposes using Archbald’s criteria of developmental efficacy, intellectual stewardship, distinctive form, and community benefit. Suggested supports for group dissertations include clear commitments to group dissertations, admission processes attentive to group dissertation demands, an open student-centered topic and group formation process, faculty commitment to group advising, and vigilance against regressions to the familiar.