Teaching public administration
| Author | John Fenwick |
| Published date | 01 March 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0144739417740180 |
| Date | 01 March 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Teaching Public Administration
Teaching public
2018, Vol. 36(1) 6–13
ª The Author(s) 2017
administration: Key
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DOI: 10.1177/0144739417740180
themes 1996–2016
journals.sagepub.com/home/tpa
John Fenwick
Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, UK
Abstract
In this article, the aim is to explore some of the key themes to emerge in the journal
during the past two decades. Each selected theme will be reviewed in the light of issues
raised in particular papers. The aim of this approach is, first, to facilitate reflection upon
the contribution of the journal as its subject matter has moved from a concern with
British public administration to something more international in its scope and, second, to
encourage critical attention to the current state and future direction of the discipline of
public administration itself. The identification of cross-cutting themes enables the reader
to dig a little deeper and draw his/her own conclusions about where the journal has
made its distinctive contribution.
Keywords
Pedagogy, public sector training, devolution, ethics, what is public administration?
Introduction
This journal has witnessed and contributed to some of the key debates in the discipline
over a period of more than 30 years. In this article, the aim is to identify and explore
some of the key themes to emerge during the past two decades. Like any ‘greatest hits’
compilation there are some obvious candidates for inclusion together with some that
have faded from fashion but are nonetheless worthy of renewed attention. There are also
numerous excellent articles that could not be included here because the exercise is by
definition a selective one. In this piece, each of the selected themes will be reviewed in
the light of issues raised in particular papers. The specific papers are brought together in
Corresponding author:
John Fenwick, Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, City Campus East, Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE1 8ST, UK.
Email: john.fenwick@northumbria.ac.uk; Telephone: þ 44 (0) 191 2326002
Fenwick
7
an online form for individual attention. The aim of this approach is twofold: first, to
facilitate reflection upon the contribution of the journal; and, second, to encourage
critical attention to the current state and future direction of the discipline of public
administration itself. During the review period discussed herein, the discipline has
moved from a relatively insular concern with British administration to a greater openness
in relation to the value of international experience. This is reflected in the coverage of the
journal during this time.
Selecting themes such as ‘local government’, ‘health’, ‘civil service’ or ‘public and
private’ has been deliberately avoided. Of course, the journal has made a valuable
addition to our understanding of such service-based and sectoral areas, but the aim has
been instead to identify cross-cutting themes that allow the reader to dig a little deeper
and also assist the understanding of just where the journal has made its own distinctive
contribution.
Teaching methods and pedagogy
Consistent with its title, the journal focused, especially in its early years, on aspects of
teaching methods largely neglected elsewhere. Many other disciplinary journals have
turned their attentions increasingly to research rather than teaching under the growing
pressures of the UK’s Research Assessment Exercise and Research Excellence Frame-
work. This has, perhaps, been regrettable: teaching is the prime interest of students after
all. Yet, the journal has maintained its pedagogical interests. Shepherd (1998) provides
an early review of how public administration and distance learning may go together,
something that has since become more, rather than less relevant especially, one might
add, for courses offered internationally. Donald (2003) recounts how web-based learning
may provide an ‘electronic setting’ for teaching human resources (HR) to public service
and third sector students in the USA. There has also been a readiness to engage with
theoretical as well as practical issues in identifying new ways of teaching the discipline,
such as Barr’s attempt (2002) to apply aspects of cultural theory to the subject. Less
abstract was the discussion by Ellison (2006) on writing skills, particularly the devel-
opment of authoritative writing for students of the discipline.
From the early years of the journal (such as Greenwood et al., 1997) there have also
been debates about matters that were once contested but are now taken for granted,
such as the introduction of modular course structures and semester-based academic
years. The fragmentation that may be associated with such structures, the possibility of
repetition and the lack of academic progression are matters that...
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