Groups and Groupwork in Public Administration
| Author | John Greenwood,Lynton Robins |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9299.00239 |
| Published date | 01 December 2000 |
| Date | 01 December 2000 |
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
GROUPS AND GROUPWORK IN PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
LYNTON ROBINS AND JOHN GREENWOOD
For a variety of reasons there has been a greater emphasis upon groupwork
in British higher education in recent years. The intensified focus by regu-
lators upon teaching quality has resulted in tutors using small groups to
confirm that students have aquired the necessary skills and knowledge, and
that the formal learning outcomes have been achieved, as a result of their
lectures and other teaching methods. Others in higher education have been
concerned that widening access and the resulting larger lecture groups
require compensating student support which can be provided in small
group situations. Others still feel that modularity and semesterization –
now widespread in British higher education – limit the volume of material
that can be delivered through lectures, and limit also the contact between
lecturer and student also requiring compensating support through greater
use of small group learning. Finally, it is increasingly felt that the learning
environment of group work is best suited to the development of specific
skills now demanded by employers: for example, ability to work in a team,
problem-solving, creative thinking and leadership. This paper explores the
use of the group as a teaching/learning device in public administration
education, and reports on the findings of a survey into the use of
groupwork by public administration educators in nearly twenty countries.
In the general sense, the whole class comprises a group but in the context
of teaching the term generally refers to a subdivision of the class. The use
of groups in higher education has long been established in the form of
seminars and tutorials. The idea of groupwork, however, is relatively new.
Whereas traditional seminars may still remain in the shape of tutor-led
John Greenwood is Professor and Lynton Robins is Public Administration Co-ordinator in the Inter-
national Public Administration and Management Unit at De Montfort University, Leicester.
Public Administration Vol. 78 No. 4, 2000 (957–965)
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 2000, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street,
Malden, MA 02148, USA.
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