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Theory Competency for MPA‐Educated Practitioners
Author(s) -
McSwite O.C.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/0033-3352.00010
Subject(s) - sociology , white (mutation) , frame (networking) , position (finance) , service (business) , psychology , process (computing) , management , pedagogy , epistemology , public relations , political science , computer science , philosophy , marketing , business , telecommunications , biochemistry , chemistry , finance , economics , gene , operating system
In this issue, Cynthia McSwain and Orion White, writing under the nom de plume O.C. McSwite, address the issue of theory in MPA education. This is an important aspect of the larger theory–practice question in public administration, especially given the large number of MPA students who are mid‐career managers rather than pre‐service students. McSwite's position is that theoretical competency does not consist of specific content, such as theories of the budgeting process; rather, it is a frame of mind that helps practitioners “know what kind of situation they are in.” While McSwite's path to this conclusion is unique, it is also consistent with the approach taken in Donald Schon's The Reflective Practitioner. Both McSwite and Schon recognize how basic to good practice is this ability to size up situations in a systematic and useful way. As always, readers are invited to comment either directly to the authors or to the associate editor.