Freelance Public Servant Diary #2

How to manage contacts and convert theory into practice?

Work wise I’ve been supporting my final scrutiny meetings among other things.

I’ve also been continuing my undergraduate British Political History seminars that I lead a couple of mornings a week in the university.

In terms of freelancing:

Stuff I’ve Been Doing

Self Employment

I’ve been pondering how best to manage business contacts. This is something I’ve probably not been so great at and so going freelance seems like a good moment to be better organised. There are a number of apps out there but these seem like overkill. I thought linkedin would do the job for me but the functionality seems to have been reduced / removed no that’s no help.

I had a nice suggestion from Jamie Whyte that Trello might be the way to go and it might well be. Or I might just get a rolodex. Or a notebook.

Any suggestions much appreciated….

Research Work

I’ve been thinking about how theory links to practice, or, to put it another way, how can theory be made useful for practitioners? There is a whole world of research out there concerned with governance but how best to translate this into ‘things’ that can be easily incorporated into the day to day practice of those folks supporting, managing and designing the governing systems of councils, schools and health trusts?

Theory can provide assurance that we are doing the right things. It can also give advice about how we can do things better. Good practice tips, frameworks and tools can all be constructed from theory.

But can theory simply be packaged in a simple form for practitioners to digest? And will practitioners choose to ignore it if it isn’t? Are some professions more theory based than others? And are governance practitioners more or less interested in theory than others?

There is a strand of educational literature that deals with this and includes two schools of thought. Very crudely, the first proposes a communicative model whereby ideas are external and need to be transported into the minds of subjects. The second suggests a constructivist approach whereby subjects operate critically and create their own knowledge.

The implication for theory into practice is that, from a communicative perspective it’s ok to create simplified concepts and pass them onto practitioners. However, from a constructivist perspective, this just won’t do. Practitioners need to have the underpinning assumptions etc to ensure that they have the chance to process the knowledge effectively. This is the view that I would subscribe to.

All of which creates a dilemma for the researcher seeking to influence practice. Take-away theory maybe more convenient and more likely to get eaten by practitioners. But isn’t it better for them to understand the recipes? Even if they don’t always have the time for home cooking?

Someone suggested that the Theory of Planned Behaviour might be a helpful point of reference so I’m look at that as well.

Stuff I’ve Been Reading

I’ve got hold of a copy of Governance Theory and Practice by Vasudha Chhotray and Gerry Stoker. It seems ideal as a starting point for travelling through the various regions of governance theory. I’m looking forward to working my way through it.

I’m also reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Not related to work (I hope).