Learning about Learning

Discovering the Work of Policy

Bibliographic Data

ID11959338
AuthorsDavid Adams (0000-0002-5479-0007, University of Tasmania, corresponding author), David M Adams (0000-0002-7467-9170, University of Tasmania), H K Colebatch (0000-0003-4895-4877, UNSW Sydney), Christopher K Walker (0000-0003-1427-5868, UNSW Sydney)
Year2015
Volume74
Issue2
Pages101-111
Publication date2015-01-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Public Administration (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0313-6647 • E-ISSN: 1467-8500
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-8500.12119
OpenAlexW1484402765
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited21

The development of policy rests on skilled practice by knowledgeable practitioners – ‘policy work’ – and it is important to know what skills and knowledge this work calls upon, and where these are learned. Although there is substantial academic knowledge and courses in this field, many practitioners will argue that policy work is ‘as much an art as a science’ and is something that ‘you learn as you go’. This article reports on an exploratory study of policy practitioners’ accounts of their practice, what counts as knowledge, and in what contexts it is ‘useful’. We examine the discourses through which policy work is accomplished, the way in which people learn to do it, and the place of academic work in the constitution of these discourses. Drawing on our respondents understanding of policy practice, we discuss what more might be done to facilitate learning about the work of policy

Constitution · Engineering ethics · Field (mathematics · Pedagogy · Policy analysis · Policy learning · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Work (physics · Computer Science · Evaluation and Performance Assessment · Law · Policy Transfer and Learning · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access