Providing Context and Inspiring Hope: Using the Case Method to Teach Public Policy in Developing Countries

Abstract

This article asks: What makes for good cases when teaching public policy in a developing country? How important is geographic proximity relative to other factors in determining relevance? Building on literature about the unique public policy needs in developing countries and the case method as a pedagogical tool, and using a survey from a program that serves midcareer professionals in Nairobi, Kenya, the authors find the following to be key criteria for case selection: being set in a comparable developing country context; representing a similar array of public problems as the local context; demonstrating alternative public policy approaches to achieve progress; and inspiring optimism and hope by virtue of overcoming barriers. The authors share information on two cases that students identified as best meeting these criteria, one set in Asia (Singapore) and the other in Latin America (Colombia).

Teaching social media and public administration: Applying four approaches to an emerging issue

“…Additionally, a fictional case allows for exploration of difficult issues while not having to worry about the confidentiality issues of a real-life case. The teaching case is an important element of teaching public administration with a strong pedagogical history in the field (e.g., Foster et al, 2010; Mudida and Rubaii, 2017; Thom, 2019).…”

Fostering university-public administration links through local case studies in executive education

“…Bushouse et al (2011), for example, point out that the scant academic incentives for case writing results in a lack of up-to-date cases. Mudida and Rubaii (2017), indicate that most cases are set in the North American context, which has its own rules and dynamics, dimpinishing those cases’ teaching value to students in other global regions.…”

“…By focusing the discussion on real-world situations, students had to think critically and to confront their arguments about the resolution of challenging situations, as argued by Graham (2010) and Aragão and Sango (1995). The fact that the cases refer to the national public administration (instead of focusing on foreign and/or business experiences) has reportedly increased the engagement of students in their discussion, overcoming the problems discussed in Mudida and Rubaii (2017). Finally, the cases provided the more academic-oriented teachers with additional opportunities to relate theory with practical examples, thus helping to mitigate the theoretical drift of public administration scholars, discussed by Bushouse et al (2011), among others.…”

The problem-based learning as a pedagogical framework for teaching master of public policy and master of public administration programs in Latin America

“…“Enseñanza y Aprendizaje de Administración y Políticas Públicas en las Américas,” compiled by Cristián Pliscoff (2014), demonstrates some teaching and learning tools like service-learning pedagogy and case analysis. More recently, some studies have discussed case method implementation in the Latin American context (Careaga et al, 2017; Mudida and Rubaii, 2017) or the development of competencies in Latin American programs (Purón-Cid, 2018; Copobianco et al, 2018). Careaga-Tagüeña and Sanabria-Pulido (2021) explore the use of active learning practices in several regions including Latin America, these authors identify a body of literature that addresses the use of case studies and PBL in public affairs education, however only two of the cited works addresses to PBL, even more, these two references come from very different domains as the medical and pharmaceutical 2 (see Careaga-Tagüeña and Sanabria-Pulido, 2021: 101).…”