Journal of Public Affairs Education

From the Editor—John Dewey’s Dream
John Dewey’s scholarly and philosophical writings highlighted the connections
between democracy and education. The continuum between the classroom and
democracy—learning by doing—is the inspiration for this issue of JPAE. It looks
beyond the classroom to understand education. It microscopes faculty professional
development and service learning, and considers the tensions of reconciling
public affairs programs with the practice of public administration and the reality
of real-world politics.
Incoming NASPAA President Frances Berry’s inaugural address, “The Changing
Climate for Public Affairs Education,” reviews the history of the organization as
it approaches its 40th anniversary. Berry chronicles common themes of previous
presidential addresses and also describes how public affairs education has changed
over the years. She sees the six challenges or opportunities that have framed public
affairs education in the past and continue into the future. They range from
describing how to maintain a high-quality education, addressing inclusiveness
and social equity, and adjusting to the increasing internationalization of the
profession and curriculum to dealing with a hyperactive competitive climate
among programs and an economic recession affecting the funding for many
programs. Berry’s piece is an excellent statement on the road that public affairs
education has taken and where it is headed.
Diane Kimoto is this year’s symposium editor for the Teaching Public
Administration Conference (TPAC) articles. The 2010 conference theme was
“Putting the SERVICE Back Into Communities: Transformational Service.” The
conference examined the way citizen-based innovations and modes of education
contribute to better governance. This year JPAE is privileged to publish three of
the conference papers. They are “Using Personal Learning Networks to Leverage
Communities of Practice in Public Affairs Education,” by Bruce J. Neubauer,
Richard W. Hug, Keith W. Hamon, and Shelley K. Stewart; “Transformational
Service and Action Learning: The Sustainability of Civic Engagement,” by Diane
M. Kimoto; and “Engaging Undergraduate Students to Be Agents of Social
Change: Lessons From Student Affairs Professionals,” by Ashley Nickels, Theresa
Rowland, and Olubunmi Fadase. Professor Kimoto in her symposium introduction
describes the three contributions. All three are informative and thoughtful pieces,
stressing the importance of self-reflection and communication in constructing
effective service-learning and community-based education.
In addition to the TPAC symposium, the other articles in this issue continue
to explore learning beyond the classroom. Many MPA programs conclude with
a capstone class as a way to educationally tie the coursework together and give
students an opportunity to excel in a more in-depth research project, often times
in service of an outside organization. David Campbell and Kristina Lambright
in “How Valuable Are Capstone Projects for Community Organizations? Lessons
from a Program Assessment,” assess success factors for these projects. They
find that supervisor engagement, project location, and faculty involvement
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Journal of Public Affairs Education