Teaching in uncertain times: The future of public administration education

Abstract

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), and its resulting coronavirus disease 19 , needs no introduction. Since the outbreak began in December 2019, governments and nonprofit organizations around the globe have rushed to contain the pandemic and to assist those who have been impacted (McDonald and Larson, 2020;Wu et al., 2020). As the world struggles to respond, within the field of public administration, journals such as Public Administration Review, Administrative Theory and Praxis, and Review of Public Personnel Administration have led the charge to engage researchers on projects that may assist or inform the work of our practitioner counterparts (see Deslatte et al., 2020;Kettl, 2020;Maher et al., 2020;. While the research has assisted in moving the recovery forward, one area that still needs attention is what the outbreak means for public administration education.We are currently in a state of uncertainty. The spring 2020 semester that shifted programs online has ended, but the planning for the 2020-2021 academic year is still underway. Despite the reopening of many economies, the anticipated second wave looms over the heads of students, faculty, and administrators alike. It is in this purgatory that two questions of pedagogy come to mind: What does the pandemic mean for the state of online education in public administration. What does it mean for how we train students going forward? It is these two questions that I would like to address in this article. Course modalityOnline education is controversial. There are long-standing concerns within public administration, and the academy more generally, about the quality of education students

The dark horse of public administration: The challenge of pedagogical research

“…Doctoral students tend to be more traditional because they have entered their postgraduate studies directly after graduating with their undergraduate degrees. This distinction is important as not all students learn in the same way (see Cercone, 2008; Dabbagh, 2007; McDonald, 2021). For example, someone who is 30 and has been out of school for nearly a decade will learn differently than someone that went straight through.…”

Canadian graduate programs in public administration: The state of the field

“…As we move post-pandemic, programs are, again, going to need to adapt. As noted by McDonald III (2021), there is a need to reflect on teaching public administration in "uncertain times." Wessels (2019) considers differing conceptions of policy challenges and the implication for public administration programs.…”

“…As we move post‐pandemic, programs are, again, going to need to adapt. As noted by McDonald III (2021), there is a need to reflect on teaching public administration in “uncertain times.” Wessels (2019) considers differing conceptions of policy challenges and the implication for public administration programs. The upswing in populist discourse, political extremism, and potential and perceived threats to democracy around the world are raising anew questions about the role of government.…”

Future Online Learning for Public Administration

“…Thus, the impact of the pandemic on public administration [13], the impact on digitalization [14], the training/learning process in itself, in view of rethinking, repositioning and adapting to the pandemic situation [15], existing technologies, with a view to integrate them in the training processes [16], the transformations caused [17] or designing the future professional training for public administration [18] were studied.…”