Training for policy capacity: A practitioner’s reflection on an in-house intervention for civil servants, students, and post-secondary graduates in Canada

Abstract

A substantial amount of scholarly work focuses on conceptualizing, theorizing and studying the policy capacity of governments. Yet, guidance for practitioners on developing policy capacity training programs is lacking. In this article, I reflect on my experience as a public servant in the provincial government of Prince Edward Island where I designed and implemented the Policy Capacity Development and Mentorship Program for civil servants, recent graduates and students. In this article, I offer a descriptive overview of the framework and logic of the program and discuss how I integrated policy capacity theory. This article may serve other practitioners who seek to implement similar programs in their respective organizations and provides a base for future interventions. The article also offers thoughts on practitioner-led collaboration with academics and recommendations for those who would like to establish similar programs in their organizations.

Factors Affecting the Policy of Training and Fostering Civil Servants of Khmer Ethnic Minorities in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

“…Thus, they have favorable conditions to carry out the work of propaganda, mobilization, and persuasion of the people to strictly comply with the State's policies and laws, thereby promoting the great unity of the whole people and maintaining security politics, social order, and safety in ethnic minority areas (Elston and Bevan, 2020). Ethnic minority civil servants play a very important role in the implementation of socioeconomic development plans (Cameron, 2022).…”

A case example of teaching reflective policing to police students

“…Viewed from this reflexive stance, police debrief procedures may point towards a problem: The manifestation of underlying assumptions of police work given they are not challenged systematically in the debrief process (e.g., (Lorenz et al, 2021). While reflexivity is generally deemed as an important characteristic of public service servants (Cameron, 2021; Knassmüller and Meyer, 2013) and police officers specifically (Koerner and Staller, 2022; Staller and Koerner, 2021a), experiences from the German context show that the uncovering of action guiding assumptions is regularly neglected (Koerner and Staller, 2021b; Lorenz et al, 2021; Staller et al, 2021a; Staller and Koerner, 2021b). As such, it is likely that dysfunctional police interactional behavior will manifest itself when the framework such behavior is judged by is not regularly challenged.…”

“…Reflection is therefore central to all experiential learning theories (Kolb, 2015; Schön, 1983) and is essential as a key attribute of continuous development of expertise for police officers (Wood and Williams, 2017). The concept of reflective practice is firmly established as a concept in professional learning and development settings in general (Ahmad et al, 2013; Atkins and Murphy, 1993; Cameron, 2021; Mezirow, 1998; Quinn, 2013; Schön, 1983). Concerning policing the "reflective practitioner" represents the guiding principle of good and professional practice for both police officers (Staller et al, 2021d; Wood and Williams, 2017) and their trainers (Körner and Staller, 2018, 2020; Staller et al, 2021b).…”

Leadership, Change and Conflict: An Examination of Informal Human Resources Theory for Policy Capacity

“…Policy capacity in PEI has been examined with a focus on practitioners' conceptualizations of policy work (Cameron, 2022a), training (Cameron, 2022b), research ethics (Cameron, 2021), innovation (Cameron, 2018) and small scale (Cameron, 2020) but not human resource theory. Given HR personnel's important role in recruiting, hiring, training, and retaining staff, there are implications for HR personnel with respect to policy capacity, yet HR and policy capacity is understudied.…”