The use of inquiry-based learning in public administration education: challenges and opportunities in the context of internationalisation

This paper discusses challenges of, and potential for, using Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) within the teaching of Public Administration at postgraduate level in the context of internationalisation. In particular, we discuss the appropriateness of IBL for teaching diverse groups of students from varied international backgrounds. IBL has been widely promoted in UK Higher Education sector, and intuitively seems an appropriate pedagogical approach for an applied subject such as public administration. However there are challenges associated with using IBL with postgraduate international students who have a short time to assimilate complex theories and concepts in a non-native language, and have often been educated previously in contexts with a more didactic tradition of education. With the increasing internationalisation of the UK Higher Education sector, we suggest there is a tension between some of the teaching and learning methods that are being promoted nationally, and the needs of an increasingly diverse international student body. Reflecting on our own experiences as teachers of international students on public administration programmes we outline both the benefits and limitations of teaching with IBL but also suggest ways in which this type of approach could be assimilated within the broader set of pedagogical practices used with international postgraduate students.