Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Armbruster, Walter J.

English

Research Papers in Economics

PUBLIC ISSUES  EDUCATION  AND  THE NPPEC
Walter J. Armbruster
Farm Foundation
Public  policy education  evolved  from  the  work  of agricultural
economists  involved  in commodity  policy  extension  work.  These
subject  matter specialists were  looking for ways to improve their ef-
fectiveness  as  educators while  avoiding the  pitfalls  of taking  a posi-
tion on the policy issues.  They focused on identifying important  pol-
icy issues;  developing  alternatives  for dealing  with those issues; and
analyzing the consequences  of each of those alternatives,  all in an
objective,  educational  mode.  The  "issues-alternatives-conse-
quences"  model  that  evolved  combined  "content"  expertise  and
"process"  methodology,  though  most emphasis  was placed  on  con-
tent, including much outside  of commodity policy.
Public policy education  specialists have dealt with more than com-
modity policy as reflected  in the National Public Policy Education
Conference  agenda  over  the years.  In  1990,  Barr and Flinchbaugh
reviewed  program topics for the policy  conference and found that
commodity,  and closely-related,  policy  was  of decreasing  impor-
tance,  although  it always  had been only part of the forty-year-old
conference  agenda.
Nonetheless,  the public policy education specialists  and the Na-
tional  Public  Policy  Education  Committee  (NPPEC)  continue  to  be
viewed  as focused  almost entirely on agricultural  commodity policy.
That perception is reinforced by the fact that the most visible out-
puts from the NPPEC over the past fifteen plus years, other than the
conference  proceedings,  have  been the  periodic  farm  bill  projects.
The one exception is Module 6,  "Education  for Public Decisions,"  of
the Working With Our Publics project.  Module  6 was high quality,
but has been the most widely  used of the modules  because it was
"pre-sold"  to  a network  of specialists with subject matter credibility.
These  specialists  were  drawn upon  as  authors and  reviewers.  The
NPPEC  promotion  of the module  was extremely helpful in creating
demand  for,  and use of, the  materials. However,  Module 6  is identi-
fied as a part of the overall project for which others are credited.
In recent years the public  policy education "content"  arena has
embraced  home  economics  (or human ecology)  and family  issues;
environmental,  water quality,  and other socioeconomic  issues impor-
tant to agriculture,  rural communities and society at large; and other
policy issues of broad interest to the general populace.
163Methodological  or "process"  developments  have included increas-
ing attention to a broader  definition of the public policy education
methodology,  redefining  or broadening  the inclusiveness  of some  of
the concepts.  For example,  Hahn has focused some attention on bias
versus balance as opposed to the  "objectivity"  frequently  cited as an
element of the public policy education  process.
The  W.K.  Kellogg  Foundation  funded  eleven projects  in its Inno-
vative  Public  Policy Education  Project Cluster,  administered  jointly
with Farm Foundation.  Only  a few  of the seventy project proposals
were submitted  by  "established"  public policy  education  specialists.
Of the eleven funded projects, only three were from these specialists
and none focused on commodity policy.
The eleven  Kellogg  projects incorporated  team  building  skills;
coalition development  and nurturing; bringing together a range of
interests  to discuss  policy  issues;  leadership  development  for  those
groups  needing to be empowered  to work in the policy arena;  com-
munity  or interest group  problem  solving workshops  to develop un-
derstanding  of public  policy  education  methodology;  and  involving
participants  in  agenda  development.  The project  coalitions brought
together  a diverse group of land grant university  and other organiza-
tion personnel  that had a knowledge base and an interest  in the  pol-
icy issues involved.  In some coalitions,  land grant university  person-
nel were  not even included.  These projects utilized  a variety  of
"process" techniques to reach their objectives.
Recently,  "public  issues education"  has  been brought  forward  as
an action plan to  provide extension staff, from  specialists  down
through county staff,  an increased understanding  of how to success-
fully work  on  controversial  public  issues  in  an  educational  context.
The proponents of public issues education clearly  saw the increasing
involvement  of extension educators  in controversial  issues.  But be-
yond that, they recognized  the need to  provide an in-service educa-
tional  program and developed  a specific proposal  to obtain funding
to do  such in-service  programming.  They  developed the  proposal
under the public issues education  label and have received Extension
Committee  on  Organization  and  Policy  (ECOP)  endorsement.  That
label was selected at least partially because of concerns  among some
extension  leaders that  "policy"  implies political  involvement  or per-
haps even making or advocating recommendations  for specific  policy
alternatives.  "Issues,"  on the other hand, has a more benign  con-
notation to many and is viewed as more amenable to education.
Public  policy  education  specialists  and the  National  Public  Policy
Education  Committee have for some time recognized the need for in-
creasing  understanding  of the  public policy  education  methodology
as a useful tool for an increasing  number of extension employees.
However,  we have never  proposed  specific  action.  Given the  ECOP
164adoption  of  the public  issues  education  action  plan,  what  role  is
there for public policy education specialists?
You may contribute individual knowledge of the public policy edu-
cation process  and provide training to increase the  understanding of
it by extension  specialists  and county staff in your state.  You may
contribute  disciplinary excellence  to the  educational  programs  to
broaden  understanding  of the controversial  public issues by helping
identify  alternative  solutions  and  analyzing  their consequences.  Or
you may  choose  to  do  nothing,  view  public  issues education  as  en-
tirely focused on  "process"  and act as  if you still have control of the
"content"  agenda.
Clearly,  public  issues  education  training  must  emphasize  the  im-
portance of having access to,  and incorporating  into educational pro-
gramming,  a sound content knowledge base. There  exists ample op-
portunity  for public policy education specialists  to get involved.  You
must decide what you wish to do, either individually or as a group.  I
suggest  that the NPPEC  appoint  a Public  Issues  Education Task
Force  to work with the two ECOP  subcommittees  charged with im-
plementing  the  action  plan,  the Personnel  and  Organization  Devel-
opment Committee  (PODC) and the Program Leadership  Committee
(PLC).  Specialists  affiliated  with the NPPEC have  the practical  ex-
perience  in  the core  issues-alternatives-consequences  methodology
framework  upon which  public  issues  education must  build.  They
have  increasingly  drawn upon  emerging  process  techniques  to  im-
plement effective  education  on controversial public issues. They are
in the best position to lead the effort to develop the in-service educa-
tion  programming  to  increase  the understanding  by extension  staff,
including specialists  and those in the counties,  of how to do public
issues education.  The stage is set! Let's get on with the task!
REFERENCES
Barr,  Wallace,  and Barry  Flinchbaugh.  "Forty  Years of Increasing Understanding."  Increasing Understanding of
Public Problems and Policies-1990,  pp.  15-22.  Oak Brook, IL: Farm  Foundation,  1991.
Hahn, Alan J.,  et al. "Principles  and Techniques of Public  Policy Education Learned  from Eleven  Innovative Proj-
ects."  Increasing Understanding  of Public Problems and Policies-1991,  pp.  63-75. Oak Brook,  IL: Farm Founda-
tion,  1992.
165

PUBLIC ISSUES EDUCATION AND THE NPPEC

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Research Papers in Economics