Much is being expended in the continuous capacity development of public servants by means of formal programmes in administration, management, leadership and other subjects that receive unequal priority. From an education, training and development (ETD) perspective, careful selection and design has to be made based on a sound understanding of curricular themes, their academic and social contexts, knowledge structures, discourses and worldviews. Through the lens of a scholar in education and a practitioner in the public service, this article considers insights of history, theory, research and learning (Wessels, 2013) to find explanations for a number of issues relating to public administration knowledge and social practices. The issues include questions about the origin of the shifts in the discourse of public administration; how these shifts have been maintained or disrupted; how they manifest in ETD praxis and with what implications.