Teaching public administration ethics in higher education on-line

Abstract

In performing their functions, public officials have to make ethical choices. Learning about making ethical choices should therefore not be left to choice. Public officials should be equipped with ethical decision-making skills. This paper focuses on the teaching of Public Administration ethics in higher education. [In this paper the academic subject is spelt Public Administration whereas the practice is spelt public administration, (i.e. the one of activity)]. The paper covers issues such as the significance of teaching Public Administration ethics, approaches to teaching Public Administration ethics as well as techniques for teaching Public Administration ethics. Different teaching techniques, which may be used to direct attention to ethical issues in Public Administration, include group-facilitating, guest lecturing case study method and on-line teaching. This paper pays special attention to online-teaching. It is the duty of teachers in Public Administration ethics to determine which technique(s) to use in a given situation.