This article was a contribution to a conference session on experiential learning, identifying the lessons derived from a career teaching public administration between 1957 and 1987. It sets the discussion in the context of historical and current debates in Britain and the USA about the current role of universities. Lessons derived from Tasmania, Oxford, Kampala, Sydney, Belfast, Canberra and Queensland included the need for academic leaders to emphasise and value the teaching role of academics, the benefits of including internships and pre-vocational content in an undergraduate curriculum and the strengthening of peer review mechanisms rather than external performance indicators.
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