Innovation, Collaboration and Learning
| Author | Catherine Farrell,John Diamond |
| Published date | 01 September 2012 |
| Date | 01 September 2012 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0144739412464130 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Innovation,
Collaboration and
Learning: Lessons to
Inform Practice?
We welcome papers that draw upon shared as well as individual experiences in terms
of curriculum planning and design, as well as different approaches to key questions
raised within the field of public administration. We are particularly interested in (and
committed to) the ways in which we reflect upon those experiences and how we use
that reflection to shape and structure our practice. The journal will, in subsequent
editions, focus in depth on the different ways in which we might use reflection as a
meansofbothengaginginmakingsenseofourownpractice,aswellasusingitto
enable practitioners and professionals to examine their own ways of working and
learning.
In this section we are pleased that Colin Copus and Kerstin Altherr have written
about their experiences of developing and designing a prog ramme that sits across two
different institutions in two different political, educational and social settings. Their
paper explores their approach to working cooperatively and collaboratively and we
think that it identifies a number of potential lessons for practitioners and professionals
working together.
We think that these questions of how programmes are jointly designed, validated (or
accredited), taught and assessed remain really important in the current context. They
are important because the processes involved in the joint or shared production of a
curriculum, and the negotiation involved in developing the pedagogical framework
within which such a curriculum will sit, are not easy processes. At each step they
require a revisiting of the original goals or purpose involved in the bringing together of
colleagues, institutions and practitioners. In a sense each part of the process from
curriculum design to institutional approval to implementation requires a mini
validation by all partners.
It is these processes and the lessons which can be shared from an informed and
critical reflection that we wish to promote within the journal and through our
participation in conferences, networks and conversations with practitioners, profes-
sionals and researchers. We recognise that, at different times and in different contexts,
readers of this journal will be all three!We are also aware that we want to promote the
sharing and dissemination of ideas and practice which promote innovation and joint
working and which are, themselves, illustrative of the dynamic nature of our field of
Teaching Public Administration
30(2) 104–105
ªThe Author(s) 2012
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DOI: 10.1177/0144739412464130
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