JOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS EDUCATION - naspaa

Operation PSA: The Action Learning of Curiosity and Creativity
Critical Observations
In retrospect, it’s often amazing how the most basic components of a project
have the largest impact. Operation PSA was no different. The strength and
merit of the team’s endeavors rested on the framing of the interview questions
for the PSAs. While none of the videotaped participants was given the questions
in advance for perusal, each provided responses that clearly documented the
magnitude of creativity (i.e., sensitivity), branding (i.e., trust), and technology
(i.e., interrelationships) associated with the boundary-spanning skills of public
and nonprofit leadership. The success of the PSAs rested upon the fact that the
questions possessed an inherent relevance for eager audiences of those who had
grown tired of classroom politics, and had come to prefer rebuilding the
intricate connection between education and communication.
The length of the conference-based PSA was another consideration for the
team. While no definitive rule was set regarding the length of the conference
video, most memorable PSAs typically range between 90 and 120 seconds
(National Centre of Languages, 2007; Weatherization Assistance Program,
2009). For example, the longer, draft PSAs generated from the conference (i.e.,
more than three minutes) found participants intertwining their explanations for
the motivation and marketing questions (e.g., What was your motivation for
coming to the conference and How would you go about marketing this
conference). Therefore, the marketing question was eliminated from the final
PSA, but the two most pertinent statements were still retained to add greater
depth to the attendees’ passion and commitment. In contrast, the shorter draft
PSAs (i.e., 30 seconds) did not showcase the breadth of respondents’ emotions
or the naturalness that colleagues felt when asking one another for assistance.
Keeping these factors in mind, the team finalized a 2.33-minute PSA that
would hopefully inspire public and nonprofit students, practitioners, and
educators to try action learning.
CONCLUSION
Action learning empowers “anyone who is capable and who has the
willingness to assume leadership in his or her relationship with peers, team
members, customers, suppliers, and other organization partners” (Raelin, 2006,
p. 152). It is imperative, particularly as public administration reproduces and
transforms itself, that the same learning formulation of L = P + Q be continued,
for it will help educators and practitioners ask (a) what could be happening
within the field, (b) what is stopping such a flow of creation and utilization, and
(c) what can individuals do to demonstrate a learning-to-learn aptitude
Raelin (2006) reinforces how “learning results from the independent
contributions of programmed instruction (designated P) and spontaneous
questioning (designated Q)” (p. 153). From these similar beginnings, the project
374 Journal of Public Affairs Education