Purpose: In this collaborative autoethnographic study, four faculty members in a US-based Doctor of Education (EdD) program reflected individually and collectively in the authors' community of practice through reflective journaling, self-reflection and discussion sessions to analyze the individual stories critically. This study aims to examine the influence of the authors' involvement with an EdD program on the academic approaches to teaching, research and mentoring EdD students. Design/methodology/approach: Professional practice doctorates have emerged in response to the growing need for practitioners to use evidence for continuous improvement. Although the literature has highlighted faculty members as change agents redefining the EdD as a professional practice doctorate, minimal research has explored how their involvement in such design work may affect their academic practices. Findings: The authors perceived the involvement with the EdD program as transforming the faculty practices in five ways (i.e. shifting the epistemologies, embracing practice-based pedagogies, engaging in practice-based research, mentoring scholarly practitioners and intentional community building) and creating a shared vision of preparing scholarly practitioners. Originality/value: The authors draw implications for redesigning EdD programs through participation in a faculty community of practice, prompting faculty to shift their practices to better support scholarly practitioners and affecting their identity as teachers, mentors and program developers.