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The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By Stephen G. Harding
December 21, 2018
Where To Start?
“this guide is not a reference source to the literature on effective teaching. It is, rather, a place to start preparing to teach.”
Preface to the 2nd Edition, “Managers as Teachers”
Nearly everything a would-be practitioner instructor needs to contemplate about teaching public administration at the university level can be found in the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) publication, Managers as Teachers: A Practitioner’s Guide to Teaching Public Administration 3rd Edition. It is an A-Z overview from how to get that first assignment to course development, delivery methods, time commitments and compensation. I recommend reading it in total including the appendices. However, before going to far, I would suggest you give substantial thought to the five following sections of the Guide:
Beyond the mechanics of teaching, these areas provide substance to the reasons why one should or should not teach. Still as important, these focus areas provide a glimpse, and really just a glimpse, into the culture of the academy and the students of today. If your last contact with higher education was as a student or a brush with the system as a guest lecturer, you may find the educational environment to be different from what you remember. By focusing on both the pluses and the minuses, each apprentice adjunct should be equipped to enter this realm with his/her eyes wide open.
Why Teach Seems Obvious—Why Not Teach, Well—
Practicing managers are needed and wanted in the classroom. Who can better add a touch of reality to a public administration education than those currently in practice?
Raymond W. Cox, III Ph.D.
Professor Cox’s Forward and the section entitled “Why Managers Should Teach” may be just enough to get you into the lecture hall. As to the question “Why Not,” the answer needs to be more contemplative. The following outline developed by the Cal-ICMA Encore Committee should help:
Reasons Why You May Not Want to Teach
I would say yes to each and then some. Here are some additional thoughts:
For You the Apprentice Instructor
For You Members of the Academy (And Some Practitioners)
For those that still do, I would suggest stopping the overt and covert practitioner versus academician debate. It serves no purpose. Better time spent helping practitioners with the necessary pedagogy to be better instructors. We have the same goal, to assist the next generation of public servants. Practitioners are not “Adjunct” as the definition suggests. We are partners. We do not have to be in the classroom. We are there because we want to be. It’s just too important.
Author: Stephen G. Harding has served as an adjunct instructor for more than 15 years. Overlapping the last eleven of his 38-year public/private sector career, he has taught 50 courses for nearly 1,000 post-graduate students at five universities. As a city manager, executive director or corporate vice president, he has provided managerial, organizational and economic development advisory services to 60 client agencies. He may be contacted at:
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