Knowledge Mobilization and Educational Research：Politics, languages and responsibilities

"How can educational research have more impact? What processes of knowledge exchange are most effective for increasing the uses of research results? How can research-produced knowledge be better 'mobilized' among users such as practicing educators, policy makers, and the public communities? These sorts of questions are commanding urgent attention in global educational discourses and research policies. This attention has been translated into powerful material that shapes what is now considered to be worthwhile research. It directly affects how research is funded, recognized, and assessed. Yet precisely what activities constitute effective knowledge mobilization, or even what is meant by 'moving knowledge', remains unclear. Knowledge Mobilization explores - what politics are at play in determining knowledge 'impact' across radically different contexts? - who determines what counts as impact, and for what purposes? - how are 'results' of educational research separated from its participants and processes? - how are languages used in the construction of knowledge, the enactment of policy processes and the ways in which research unfold. This volume is unique in bringing together these wide-ranging issues of knowledge mobilization in education. The volume editors critically analyse these complex issues and also describe various efforts of knowledge mobilization and their effects. The contributors in Knowledge Mobilization speak from diverse occupational and theoretical locations. Leading scholars in Canada, theUS, the UK, and Australia bring disciplinary perspectives from law, digital media studies, museum studies, journalism and policy-making as well as fields of education"--

Tara Fenwick is Professor of Education at the School of Education, University of Stirling in Scotland.

Lesley Farrell is Professor and Associate Dean of Research and Development in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.