Langford honoured with national teaching award

From hitting the road in the late ’70s to teach public administration courses in the BC Interior to leading the development of Canada’s only fully online MPA program, John Langford has spent his career pushing the boundaries of distance education. This life-long commitment to creative and effective teaching has earned the University of Victoria professor the 2009 Pierre De Celles Award for excellence in teaching in public administration from the Institute of Public Administration in Canada.

Early in Langford’s career, teaching a “distance education” course meant, literally, going the distance. “I did ‘suitcase’ courses where I’d go to another town for a weekend and teach public sector management courses,” says Langford, who saw his audience widen in the ’80s when BC’s Knowledge Network provided universities with broadcast satellite time.

Tapping into his senior political and public service contacts in Ottawa, Langford and the UVic Extension crew filmed interviews in the national capital and then integrated them into his televised lectures. Following each broadcast, he would arrange a teleconference for his distance students to discuss the episode they had just viewed. By the early ’90s, Langford had embraced the Internet although connectivity among his first class was limited to emailing each other.

“The course was you, 16 students and a listserve,” recalls Langford. “It was pretty novel at the time. Our online engagement was hitting the ‘reply all’ button.” The development of sophisticated interactive teaching software means Langford’s master’s and diploma students can now access lectures, interviews and even course readings online. Virtually all of his students are mid-career learners.

“We have Canadians in Saudi Arabia, police officers in Nunavut and government workers in Newfoundland outports all able to access our public administration undergraduate and graduate courses,” says Langford, who now rarely teaches in a traditional classroom at UVic.

Teaching is not an individual effort any more. It’s become a team sport, since you depend so much on the specialists in distance education who are working with you to develop courses and help students with connectivity problems.” And Langford continues to work with his team to offer his students more online opportunities. UVic’s Distance Education Services are currently developing a ‘debate’ tool so contesting views can be displayed on the screen at the same time.

“Early in his career John understood the enormous benefits to expanding instruction beyond the traditional classroom,” says Mary Ellen Purkis, dean of the Faculty of Human and Social Development, which houses the School of Public Administration. “His dedication makes UVic a national leader in providing public administration career development to Canadians.”

The award honours the memory of Professor Pierre De Celles who taught for many years at the École Nationale d’Administration Publique and was its director general.