Teaching Courses on Managing Diversity: Using Learning Contracts to Address Challenges and Model Behavior

Abstract

Managing for diversity is widely recognized as an increasingly important component of public administration curricula. Students must be prepared to function effectively in a workplace characterized by greater diversity among coworkers and the publics served. Despite the recognized need for courses on managing diversity, many faculty feel ill-prepared to determine course content and teach such courses. This article provides practical and normative justifications for the use of learning contracts in diversity courses. From a practical standpoint, learning contracts are an effective means of meeting the needs of diverse students and increasing course relevance while reducing the burden on the instructor to completely retool and develop a new area of expertise. The author asserts that learning contracts should be used because they are an appropriate instructional strategy for the adult learners who comprise public affairs programs and they provide a means for the instructor to model a behavior that demonstrates valuing diversity as an asset. The author presents a step-by-step guide to learning contracts tailored for use in diversity courses, provides examples of learning contract provisions developed by students in courses on managing diversity, and shares feedback received from students about the process.