Virtue ethics and cultural competence: Improving service one administrator at a time

Film in Public Administration Classrooms: Developing Responsible Administrators in the Information Age

“…Democratic values can nurture the development of the responsible administrator through focus on a public service perspective as detailed in the NASPAA guidelines. Educators can create and implement curricula aimed at achieving social equity (Cram and Alkadry, 2018), which is becoming more relevant in PA education programs (McCandless and Larson, 2018). Social equity and democratic values are inherently linked to public service values, a key competency in developing the responsible administrator.…”

“…Teaching Public Administration 39(2) down to cultural competency and ethical decision-making skills (Cram and Alkadry, 2018;Haupt et al, 2017).…”

“…Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (2014) requires public affairs programs to prepare students to communicate and interact productively with a diverse and changing workforce and citizenry; thus, cultural competence becomes integral in PA curricula (Carrizales, 2010). Cultural competency is a set of congruent attitudes, behaviors, and policies that allow groups to work effectively in cross-cultural conditions in an agency or organization (Cram and Alkadry, 2018;White, 2004). "It is the acceptance and respect for difference, a continuous selfassessment regarding culture, and attention to the dynamics of difference, the ongoing development of cultural knowledge, and the resources and flexibility .…”

Teaching curiosity in public affairs programs

“…For the competency of “communicate and interact productively with a diverse and changing workforce and citizenry,” curiosity can help emphasize the important of cultural competency for public administrators. For instance, Cram and Alkadry (2018) discuss how public affairs programs can teach the concept of cultural competency and the importance of diversity in public management. By including curiosity in this discussion and assignments, instructors can further achieve the goal of demonstrating the importance for cultural competency in public administration.…”

Embedding cultural competence and racial justice in public administration programs

“…When administrators are interacting with individuals and groups at the margins of society, it becomes even more clear why education and training should encourage an awareness of difference and the development of appropriate skills, knowledge, and behaviors. Cram and Alkadry (2018) argue that there are more than 20 million public servants across the United States, however, membership in the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) is less than 10,000. This means that a negligible faction of the public service workforce is aware of the ASPA Code of Ethics or has been oriented to the public service values that drive the discipline.…”