Purpose – This paper aims to examine the personal and organisational factors that affected public sector managers' participation in leadership training programmes and their ability to transfer learning to their workplace. Design/methodology/approach – In-depth interviews were conducted with five Canadian and five Northern Irish managers who participated in one-day leadership training programmes. Findings – The uncertain environment throughout the public sector was the greatest inhibitor to training participation and transfer. However, other training characteristics and training design features were also noted (e.g. motivation, trainer influence). Practical implications – Public sector organisations must take concrete steps to address current environmental challenges to fully benefit from leadership training programmes. The paper highlights pre-, during, and post-training strategies that can be implemented. Originality/value – The findings illustrate that leaders in both public sector jurisdictions face similar issues and these have been exacerbated by the current turbulent climate. The authors suggest that to maximise return on training investment the public sector must create an environment supportive of training participation and transfer and suggest recommendations to help organisations in the future. These findings were facilitated by the use of qualitative training evaluation methods, not traditionally used in training transfer research.

Swimming Against the Current: Understanding How a Positive Organisational Training Climate Can Enhance Training Participation and Transfer in the Public Sector

As teachers and entrepreneurship education researchers we have noted in our training programs that there is a need for discussion on the concept of entrepreneurial pedagogy and to seek a more precise understanding of what it is and what it does. Entrepreneurial pedagogy is often perceived as a “toolbox of new tricks”, in other words a collection of innovative teaching techniques. Hence, although there is undoubtedly a demand for innovative and experiential teaching methods, we feel that more profound insights on entrepreneurial pedagogy and its educational philosophical underpinnings are equally necessary as a basis for entrepreneurship education. There seems to be some disagreement between the academic and practical fields on how to approach the teaching of entrepreneurship ( Jones, 2006; Neck & Greene 2011). There is also a contradiction within academia regarding how to understand entrepreneurial pedagogy (Kyrö, 2005). Entrepreneurship education is about entrepreneurship and education. So far the issues of entrepreneurship education have mainly been addressed from the perspective of economics, whereas the pedagogical discussion is still in its infancy (Kyrö 2001). There seems to be a gap between education research and entrepreneurship research. When discussing entrepreneurship education research these two issues should be in balance. This necessitates more dialogue between entrepreneurship research and education research, as Kyrö (2001) suggests. The aim of this study is to explore the current use of entrepreneurial pedagogy as a conceptual construct in the light of the recent literature. Our research questions are the following:

Towards a conceptual understanding of entrepreneurial pedagogy

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2013.

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Recontextualising knowledge in the curriculum in public management

As the public sectors of many countries come to terms with the implications of major challenges, from reduced budgets and changes in the nature of public-sector employment, it is appropriate to reflect on the nature of nonprofit education and consider it in the context of management and business education in the public and private sectors. Until now, published research on nonprofit programmes in higher education has typically been focused on individual countries or types of programmes. Th is paper reviews the background of management education and compares university-level nonprofit education in the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States. We find that the number and types of academic programmes offered are aligned with both the size of the sector and the sector function in each country.

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Responding to Challenge: Comparing Nonprofit Programmes and Pedagogy at Universities in the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States

Donald Schon’s assertion that becoming an effective professional requires more than technical rationality underpins the pedagogy of Masters in Public Administration (MPA) programmes. This article e...

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Teaching Regulatory Humility: Experimenting with Student Practitioners

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse three innovative Master's programmes designed for public and voluntary sector managers across three EU countries.Design/methodology/approach – The paper compares similarities and differences between the programmes in order to shed light on the “innovation journey” which the authors took in establishing these programmes, and on the distinctive pedagogies which have been designed and developed to help address the complex dilemmas and challenges facing public and voluntary sector managers in the three countries.Findings – The paper draws on theories of innovation and entrepreneurship to illustrate how these programmes were created, and how both new curriculum content and new approaches to pedagogy had to be developed.Originality/value – The paper addresses the current and future learning needs of these public and voluntary service managers.

Innovation, design and delivery of MPA programmes for public leaders and managers in Europe

Special issue on developing the reflexive public manager

Reflection plays a significant role in the pedagogical thinking and practice at the Copenhagen Business School Master of Public Administration Programme. It is thus embedded in one of the pedagogical models we have developed based on ideas from Argyris, Schon, Vygotsky, Senge, Lave and Wenger, and Schein. The model has four interrelated dimensions: challenges, feedback, psychological safety, and reflection. Based on previous articles, interviews and essays from participants, and the author’s own knowledge, the surprisingly numerous possibilities for reflection before, during, and after the programme are outlined. The article concludes with suggestions for improvements.

The role of reflection in the pedagogical thinking and practice of the MPA programme at Copenhagen Business School

At the lead author’s home institution – Copenhagen Business School (CBS) – the combination of theory and practice is seen as very important in teaching. Research-based teaching is the slogan. In this respect, CBS has the same ambition as other universities. But it seems as if CBS has an advantage at the master’s level, because students come with a lot of experience. The average age of the MPA students is generally over 40. Consequently, they are able to bring practice into the classroom and to confront it with theories and also the experiences of their fellow students. There are, however other ways of bringing practice and theory together. In this note, the author reviews a three-year consultancy/research project in a merging hospital department. The aim of the note is twofold. One is to detail the more exploratory methods used to develop the organization. The second is to evaluate whether these methods can be transferred to a potential MPA module at CBS. It is concluded that for some of the methods such ...

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A Practical Note on Transferring Ideas and Methods from Consultancy Practice to the MPA Classroom: A Personal Account from a Danish Case Study.

Praksisrelation er en vigtig bestanddel af paedagogikken pa Copenhagen Business School (CBS). PA MPA uddannelsen er vi privilegerede i denne sammenhaeng, fordi vore deltagere med en gennemsnitsalder pa over 40 ar selv moder op med megen erfaring. Vores opgave som undervisere og designere af uddannelsen er at skabe rammerne for, at deltagernes erfaringer kan bringes i spil ud fra mottoet »fra naerhed til distance – og tilbage igen«. Forfatteren gengiver bade de mere overordnede overvejelser, man har gjort sig pa uddannelsen, og en raekke af de mere praktiske tiltag, der har vaeret sat i vaerk.

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J. C. Ry Nielsen

Papers

Innovation, design and delivery of MPA programmes for public leaders and managers in Europe

Special issue on developing the reflexive public manager

The role of reflection in the pedagogical thinking and practice of the MPA programme at Copenhagen Business School

A Practical Note on Transferring Ideas and Methods from Consultancy Practice to the MPA Classroom: A Personal Account from a Danish Case Study.

Deltagerorienteringen i undervisningen af MPA studerende – refleksioner og praksis