The development of public managers’ reflexive capacities
| Author | Michael Broussine,Yusuf Ahmad |
| DOI | 10.1177/0144739412466866 |
| Published date | 01 March 2013 |
| Date | 01 March 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The development of
public managers’
reflexive capacities
Michael Broussine and Yusuf Ahmad
University of the West of England, UK
Abstract
The aim of this article is to discuss ways in which we as educators of public managers can
help our students deal effectively with the challenges thrown up by the sweeping cuts in
public services arising as a consequence of the fiscal crisis brought about by the failure of
the banks. While our focus is on the UK, we feel that the issues raised have relevance
across Europe. Our argument is that by developing a reflexive pedagogical practice we
will enable our students to be proactive (agentic), and in accordance with ethical and
professional values, to respond to the dilemmas they face arising out of unprecedented
public expenditure cuts. We begin by discussing the overall political context which forms
the backdrop to the current crisis in public services and its implications. This is followed
by a discussion about the pedagogic debate concerning ‘reflexivity’ and the potential role
it has in a public management education strategy. A pedagogy for reflexivity needs to be
based in an ontology that believes in the efficacy of open, critical and democratic dia-
logue, and the facilitation of learning in interactional and relational environments. A
range of learning and inquiry processes may hold these characteristics, e.g. collaborative
inquiry groups, participatory action research. However, we proceed by describing our
experience of enabling senior local government managers to work ‘reflexively’ in
learning sets and identify key issues emerging for them as they grapple with the impact of
the fiscal crisis. In reflecting on this experience we offer some general insights about the
role of ‘reflexivity’ in the education of public managers.
The crisis of the welfare state
The current economic situation has been characterised by many commentators as the
worst recession to beset western capitalism in the last hundred years. What started as a
‘financial crisis’ in the banking sector has transmogrified into a crisis of the welfare
state/public expenditure. The focus of policy attention has shifted from the high-risk and
criminally suspect policy of financial institutions to what has been characterised as the
Corresponding author:
Michael Broussine, University of the West of England, Coldharbour Lane, Frenchay, Bristol, BS16 1QY UK.
Email: mike@michaelbroussine.plus.com
Teaching Public Administration
31(1) 18–28
ªThe Author(s) 2012
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DOI: 10.1177/0144739412466866
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