Teaching Leadership in Public Administration

Abstract

Graduates of public administration programs regularly find themselves in roles accorded substantial responsibility and authority. It is therefore crucial that these programs provide effective instruction that helps students develop leadership skills and attributes. The dilemma is that leadership concepts are not susceptible to traditional didactic instructional approaches, which are cognitively based. Leadership learning is best accomplished in the affective and behavioral domains as well as in the cognitive. We present a pedagogical model that we believe is more appropriate for teaching leadership in public administration, public policy, and public affairs. This model marries the key competencies of effective leaders with suitable teaching orientations. We illustrate how this model may be applied by describing a graduate leadership course we have developed and taught.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lloyd A. Blanchard

Lloyd A. Blanchard is the vice provost for fiscal management at Louisiana State University, where he also serves as executive director of LSU’s National Center for Security Research and Training, and adjunct associate professor of public administration. His research focuses generally on the resource tradeoffs in social and economic policy considerations, with a particular focus on small business finance, education accountability, and performance budgeting. His professional background includes federal executive positions in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Small Business Administration (SBA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Amy K. Donahue

Amy K. Donahue is head of the Department of Public Policy at the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on the productivity of emergency services organizations and on the nature of citizen demand for public safety. She recently returned from Louisiana State University, where she served as the founding director of the Stephenson Disaster Management Institute, a research institute focused on the challenges of managing large disaster responses. For the past five years, Donahue has served as a technical advisor to the Department of Homeland Security, helping to develop research and development programs to meet the technological needs of emergency responders.