Theoretical Perspectives on Learning and Teaching showcases the ways in which theories, from education and beyond, have been used by researchers who have recently completed their doctoral studies in education. The studies are contextualised across different UK education sectors from primary education to higher education.
Engaging with theory is one of the key criteria for assessing doctoral studies across disciplines. Research shows that recent doctoral graduates often struggle to transition from being researchers to publishing in academic books and journals. This collection, featuring chapters from thirteen recent education doctoral researchers, provides an opportunity for recent graduates to showcase how they engaged with theory in their doctoral studies. Each chapter highlights how different theories were applied or developed in their research across various educational sectors and explores how theory informed or was generated by their studies, utilizing diverse methods such as narrative inquiry, mixed methods research, creative methods, evaluation techniques, and ethnographic methods.
Readers who are doctoral researchers themselves and their supervisors will find the chapters stimulate thinking and discussion about the diverse range of theories that can be drawn upon to inform research at different stages of the study, from design to analysis. The focus on ‘lessons from doctoral studies’ will benefit readers who are postgraduate researchers and their supervisors, as well as the wider education research community.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1. Introduction – Working with Theories in Doctoral Studies of Learning and Teaching; Jane Andrews, Richard Waller, and Laura Manison
Section 1. Learner and Educator Perceptions
Chapter 2. Learning, Unlearning and Not-For-Learning: From Funds of Knowledge to Pedagogies of Discomfort; Sally Tazewell, Richard Waller, and Tessa Podpadec
Chapter 3. Perceptions of Virtual Reality in the Further Education Healthcare Curriculum in England: Insights into Adoption through a Critical Realist Lens; Laura Sheerman and Jane Andrews
Chapter 4. Learning to be and Becoming a Journalist: Applying Theory to Understanding Learning and Teaching in Journalism Education; Myra Evans and Emma Agusita
Chapter 5. A Conversation between Theory and Life: Personal Epistemology and Self-Authorship in a Narrative Inquiry with Undergraduate Law Students; Rachel Wood and Catherine Rosenberg
Section 2. Calls for Change
Chapter 6. Finding and Using Funds of Anti-racist Education: A Research Study with Racially Diverse Teachers in the Rural Southwest of England; Malcolm Richards and Sarah Whitehouse
Chapter 7. Compassion in Action: Public Health Nursing Students’ Experiences of Caring Pedagogy; Joanne Seal and Laura Manison
Chapter 8. From Theory to Practice: Designing a Parent Intervention to Reduce the Transmission of Maths Anxiety; Paula Fieldhouse and Marcus Witt
Chapter 9. Developing Researcher Reflexivity through Exploring Leadership Self-Efficacy; Chris Baker and Paul Redford
Chapter 10. A Roadmap for the Researcher: Parallel Journeys into Communities of Practice; Sara Bird and Helen King
Section 3. Development of New Theoretical Frameworks
Chapter 11. Developing and Testing Theoretical Propositions in Qualitative Education Research: Exploring Global Citizenship using a Critical Realist Case Study Design; Christine Comrie and Neil Harrison
Chapter 12. Becoming FEAR-Less: Adventures in Heterotopic Affinity Space; Andrew King and Richard Waller
Chapter 13. Synthesising Theories for Insight: Building a New Conceptual Framework to Understand the How and Why of Transitions from School to Home Education; Sarah Gillie and Harriet Pattison
Chapter 14. A Novel Theoretical Lens: Learning to Look in Visual Research; Will Grant and Timothy Clark
Chapter 15. Education Doctorates and Education Research: Apprenticeship, Contribution and Transition; David James
About the Author :
Jane Andrews is a Professor of Education at University of the West of England, UK, and is joint programme leader of the Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD) programme.
Richard Waller is Professor of Education and Social Justice at University of the West of England, UK, and is joint programme leader of the Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD) programme.
Laura Manison is a Senior Lecturer in Education in the School of Education & Childhood at the University of the West of England, UK.
Review :
Theoretical Perspectives on Learning and Teaching deserves to take its place as essential reading for both doctoral candidates and their supervisors. The editors have collated a diverse set of cases that provide student and supervisor perspectives on the emerging use of theory in doctoral work. Each chapter supports the editors’ suggestion that the research degree is a vital site of theoretical engagement and innovation; and that, despite the possibility of some initial “theory fright”, theoretical engagement is a means of opening eyes, or “providing clarity around meaning and understanding.” The student writers in the volume do an admirable job in showing that work with theory is not just an academic endeavor, but also takes its place in their lives, implicating the professional, pedagogical, and political. I would want any doctoral candidate who needs inspiration about how they might apply, adapt, or generate theory in their work to consult this book.
This imaginative volume harnesses and synthesises a wealth of doctoral expertise to demystify the research process. Authentic accounts illuminate how doctoral researchers navigate tensions, vulnerabilities and stumbling blocks along their journey. A particular strength is its attention to working with theory - an area that can be especially daunting - offering real-world insights and reassurance. By showcasing rich dialogue between doctoral researchers and supervisors, it provides essential guidance from those who have ‘been there’. Resonating across diverse backgrounds, the text offers value for researchers more broadly. It stands out in its field as a vital companion for anyone undertaking or supporting professional doctorates.
This timely and compelling volume shines a much needed light on how doctoral researchers actively work with theory—not as an abstract requirement, but as a living, generative force that shapes inquiry, insight, and professional identity. Across its diverse chapters, the collection demystifies theory by showing how it is chosen, adapted, combined, critiqued, or newly created in response to real educational challenges. The editors curate a rich set of studies spanning Further Education, Higher Education, schools, and community settings, illustrating how theoretical perspectives support researchers in making sense of complex pedagogical, social, and institutional issues.
What makes this book stand out is its clarity about the process of becoming a researcher. It acknowledges the uncertainty, “theory fright,” and creative struggle that doctoral candidates often encounter, while offering practical, compassionate models for navigating them. The chapters collectively illuminate how original contributions can take substantive, methodological, or theoretical forms, and how rigorous inquiry grows through dialogue, reflexivity, and participation in scholarly and professional communities. The concluding chapter reinforces the value of doctoral study as an apprenticeship into a vibrant, interdisciplinary research field—one that benefits from learners who are both critical and creatively engaged.
This collection will be indispensable for EdD and PhD candidates, early career researchers, supervisors, and anyone committed to strengthening education research. It provides both inspiration and guidance, demonstrating that theory is not a barrier but a powerful companion on the journey toward thoughtful, impactful scholarship.
As someone who has been involved in teaching and researching in higher education for 25 years this book comes as a welcome addition to the growing literature around the work of doctoral students. However, its real strength is in the insight it offers more generally into the process of working with theory, so often the poor relative to methodology in the development of researchers. Being set in the professional doctorate, it also illuminates the ways in which universities can work alongside professionals from a range of disciplines to develop practice.
Each chapter offers a unique insight into the way in which theory might be understood, how it can be used to make sense of and challenge professional practice and, in the final section, how research can allow new theoretical ideas to bloom. Being written by professionals who are recent graduates of a doctoral programme, these insights speak of the power of theory to make sense of the professional world, but also reflect the reality – indeed, the messiness – of this working space. As the opening chapter notes, this a call to play with theory, to understand its value and, above all, to come to see it as friend, not foe.
Whilst the obvious audience for this book might be other doctoral students, the clarity of the writing and the messages it offers about using, and developing, theoretical ideas would be of use with masters students, and undergraduates in the later stages of a programme. The broad range of disciplinary contexts means that it should be of value to those working in practice right across the public sector, and across many disciplines in universities. Early career researchers would certainly learn a lot, as would those teaching on all these programmes, given the light it shines on the way novice researchers struggle with, and overcome, the challenge of theory.
