The Craft of Teaching in Public Affairs: Instructors Reflecting on the Tools and Tips of their Trade

This book explores the art and science of teaching in public affairs programs by asking top instructors to discuss their tools and tips for the trade.

Public affairs is a discipline that builds scholarly knowledge but also trains and educates public administrators to improve their careers, organizations, and communities. Instructors in public affairs programs at the university level therefore play a vital role in safeguarding the governing capacity of public bureaucracies and nonprofits, and it is crucial that their teaching is effective. Containing chapters written by award-winning teachers, grounded in first-hand experience and supplemented with education research, this book offers guidance to new and veteran instructors alike on what works (and doesn’t) in public affairs classrooms. Topics covered include teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, teaching nontraditional students, promoting inclusivity in the classroom, managing classrooms, teaching effectively online, and defining student success in the classroom, among other themes.

This book will be of keen interest to instructors currently teaching courses on public administration, public policy, and nonprofit management, as well as PhD students looking to enhance their teaching skills.

William Hatcher is a professor of political science and public administration and chair of the Department of Social Sciences at Augusta University, USA. He serves as a co-editor of the Routledge series on Public Affairs Education. His research has appeared in journals such as the Journal of Public Affairs Education, Public Administration Review, the American Journal of Public Health, and the American Review of Public Administration. He is the author of The Curious Public Administrator (Routledge, 2022).

Beth M. Rauhaus is a professor and department head of Political Science at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, USA. She recently served as the MPA Program Coordinator at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi. Much of her research explores gender representation, equity, and diversity in the public sector. She currently serves on the editorial board for the American Review of Public Administration, the Journal of Public Affairs Education, Administrative Theory & Praxis, and Public Personnel Management.

Bruce D. McDonald III is a professor of public budgeting and finance and director of the School of Public Service at Old Dominion University, USA. He also serves as an editor-in-chief of Public Administration, a co-editor-in-chief of the Public Finance Journal, and an editor of both Routledge’s Public Affairs Education Book Series and Routledge’s Public Budgeting and Finance Book Series. His research focuses on public budgeting and finance in the context of social equity budgeting and the fiscal health of local governments. His research has appeared in journals such as the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, and the American Review of Public Administration.