Training public leaders
The Case Centre on Public Leadership delivers workshops to equip public policy educators and civil service trainers to use the interactive, immersive case method.
Join us for our next Case Method for Public Policy workshop in Oxford at the Blavatnik School of Government on 23-24 April 2025. Our workshops are open to public policy trainers and facilitators in academic or government institutions.
About the Case Method
The case method differs from traditional training methods such as lectures and seminars. Case studies put participants in the shoes of public leaders facing real-world challenges, from managing a hospital in the UK in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, to navigating a crucial tax reform through a period of deeply fraught politics in Colombia.
In case study sessions, participants take ownership of their learning, developing deeper understandings of complex situations and practicing vital skills of judgement and empathy through discussions with their peers. Every class is different, uniquely shaped by its participants.
To ensure students get the most from a case study session, instructors need the skills to guide and facilitate students’ reflections and debates. This involves selecting the right case materials, asking focusing questions, prompting students to interrogate assumptions, challenging them to apply new concepts, and conducting feedback and debrief sessions.
At a glance
Applications are closed for April 2025. Register your interest for future dates.
Programme dates23–24 April 2025
Duration1.5 days
LocationOxford
Cost£650 (including tuition, materials, and lunches; excluding accommodation)
I see cases as really valuable in getting students to apply their conceptual learning and new skills to a real-life problem. Cases are a way to help them integrate knowledge across topics, recall and apply ideas, and exercise judgment.
Professor Martin J Williams
The Workshop
The workshop provides faculty and trainers at all career stages with the necessary skills to use the case method in public policy teaching.
The intensive 1.5-day programme led by experienced faculty is designed to help new and developing case teachers sharpen their interactive pedagogical skills and bring concepts to life in the classroom, to ultimately prepare students for the most complex challenges of public service.
During the workshop, participants will:
- Experience case discussions on a range of leadership and public policy topics to gain the student perspective
- Examine the teaching methods, skills and tips used to lead effective case discussions
- Participate in case-teaching exercises to trial the methods for themselves
- Consider best practices for adapting cases into existing curricula
- Explore options and principles to consider when developing their own case materials
The workshop will help instructors strengthen their teaching, and ultimately enhance student outcomes in several ways:
- Improve students’ critical thinking about trade-offs between competing values and help them make informed decisions
- Develop students’ ability to connect and apply knowledge and theories to real world scenarios
- Enhance student interaction, improve active listening, and increase student participation through case discussions
- Foster collaboration and teamwork as students analyse and discuss cases together
As someone who has used a variety of case materials, I found the entire workshop invaluable in refreshing what I already knew. Other parts were entirely new to me.
J Nicholas Ziegler, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University
The Case Method Workshop at the University of Oxford has proven highly beneficial in teaching Public Administration students, facilitating their engagement with real-world scenarios. Additionally, it serves as a robust foundation for creating research and analysis frameworks in public policy
Rodrigo Soto Lagos, Management and Public Policy Department, University of Santiago de Chile
Meet the faculty
Our faculty leads include:
- Professor Emily Jones
Director of the Case Centre and a skilled case method trainer and negotiations expert, Emily has received multiple awards for teaching excellence for her graduate courses. In addition, Emily has delivered a variety of executive programmes and negotiations masterclasses for senior government officials from around the world. - Professor Karthik Ramanna
Professor of Business and Public Policy, and founder of the Case Centre on Public Leadership, Karthik has been teaching and writing case studies for over 15 years and has twice won the Case Centre.org’s Outstanding Case-Writer prize.
Other programme instructors include:
- Aaron Maniam, Fellow of Practice and Director of Digital Transformation Education
- Sarah McAra, Associate Director of the Case Centre and Senior Case Writer
Who Can Apply?
The workshop is open to:
- faculty members in higher education institutions that actively teach at least one course in undergraduate or postgraduate programmes in political science, public policy, public administration, or similar subjects
- trainers from civil service institutes whose trainees would benefit from an alternative pedagogical approach
- deans and directors of schools of government and civil service training institutions who are looking to bring practical teaching methods to their organisations
Graduate students with significant teaching responsibilities will also be considered.
Please note that no prior case-method experience is required. The workshop is designed for those who are new to the case method or who are looking to sharpen their interactive pedagogical skills.
Previous participants joined from fields including:
- Economics
- International Affairs
- Law
- Politics
- Public Administration
- Public Management
- Public Policy
- Social Policy