The philosophy underpinning the PhD in ELS program is aligned with Constructivism which promotes that the learning process is actually the process of knowledge creation itself. By placing the learners at the center of knowledge creation, they are encouraged and supported to search for and collect new experiences and new information, synthesize them by making a connection between this new set of information with the existing ones that they have, and then formulate or create their own understandings of such phenomena which could then be proposed as new knowledge and recommended actions. Through cognitive structure, the learners are required to engage in active learning and have a freedom to choose their own areas of interest so that they can actively construct new knowledge that meet their individual needs and serve their different purposes. Experiential learning is another educational philosophy that underpins the PhD in ELS program. Our learners are trained and prepared to create new knowledge through their own learning on the new knowledge and the new experiences they encounter and through their interaction with their teachers, peers, learning materials, and the situations surrounding them. Once new knowledge has been formulated, they will be able to transfer and translate it to practical ideas and actions that can serve as solutions to problems and recommendations for development. The learning activities that our learners are engaged with in the program will offer opportunities for learning through hands-on experiences through group activities and research practice that is informed by appropriate research methodology. These two educational philosophies are aligned with the education philosophy that SUT adheres to.