Ed.D or Psychology (PhD)

[eia]

Good day fellow educators! 

This will be a lengthy one and lots and lots of questions, strap in!

I am on a crossroad when it comes to the future of what I want with my grad school studies.  I am a Special Education teacher from the SE Asia, and I'm currently taking up MA Developmental Psychology here in my home country.

My experience is more based on the classroom, yet I personally feel that I won't be an educator forever, due to so many circumstances (pre-service teaching nightmares, CoVid, personal issues and what not) and I'm gearing towards Psychology, and I feel I am more comfortable in the field. I don't like administration too much.

And now the problem is, applying to US PhD programs. My CV will say that I work in the classroom, and can that affect my chances on having a PhD there that is not directly related to education? The thought reeling in my head is two pathways:

1. Use my bachelor's work experience:  Bachelor's: Special Education (Elem) -> Master of Arts: Developmental Psych -> Ed.D (in Educational Psychology???)
2. Drop it all and find relative work related to Developmental Psychology being a lab assistant or something.

In line to pathway 1, the only grad school I know is HGSE (Surprise, surprise!) that offers financial assistance? And a list of schools with good Ed.D? I also want to be an academic researcher too, and cognitive and adolescent development are my main areas of interests, as well as those aspects in the classroom and to our Special Ed students themselves.

(This will also be posted on the Psych forums here)

Whew, if you read up until this point, 

Thank you, will be eagerly awaiting your responses. 

[t_ruth]

There are plenty of PhD programs in Educational Psychology and related fields (e.g., Learning Sciences; Learning, Cognition, and Development).

EdD degrees are generally for those who want to go into some form of administration. If you want to do research, you will want a PhD.

Working as a lab manager for a year will definitely help you prepare for a PhD program in psychology, including educational psychology, but your prior experience will also be valued in education-focused PhD programs.

[eia]

1 hour ago, t_ruth said:

There are plenty of PhD programs in Educational Psychology and related fields (e.g., Learning Sciences; Learning, Cognition, and Development).

EdD degrees are generally for those who want to go into some form of administration. If you want to do research, you will want a PhD.

Working as a lab manager for a year will definitely help you prepare for a PhD program in psychology, including educational psychology, but your prior experience will also be valued in education-focused PhD programs.

Thank you for your response! May I know if you have some resources for universities with Educational Psychology and related fields (PhD)? And does the education field in the US have research labs as well?

 

[t_ruth]

Hi. Research "labs" are common in some education sub-fields. You can see a list of a few faculty/programs who are recruiting here.

But, your best bet is to read research articles you are interested in and then see who the authors are.

Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.