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. While the contributors themselves speak from diverse material, occupational and theoretical locations.

The essays presented in this volume examine knowledge mobilisation and its relation to research impact and engagement. The social sciences matter because they can help us to understand and address the complex challenges confronting society. This is particularly true in an era of significant downward pressure on public expenditure, a consequence of the global fiscal crisis, when there is a striking need to ensure that policies are demonstrably effective and efficient. The impact agenda in the UK, reflected in parallel global debates, actively encourages the social sciences to make and demonstrate a difference; to justify and protect social science funding. This volume shows how knowledge mobilisation can be thought of systematically as a process, encompassing engagement, leading to the co-production and channelling of knowledge to make a difference in the economy and society. This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Social Science.

"This book takes the reader from the university lab to the playgrounds of communities. It shows how to integrate, move and use knowledge, an action journey within an identified action space that is called knowledge mobilization"--Jacket.

This ground-breaking book comprehensively addresses an area of major and sustained concern: how to improve the use of research evidence and enhance educators’ research engagement as a route to the improvement of educational practice. It focuses on the topic of knowledge brokering and mobilization in education, and its role in fostering evidence-informed practice. Divided into three sections, each addressing a different role of knowledge mobilizers, the book is based in clear evidentiary grounding. The chapters: Explore payoffs and challenges of connecting research to practice Provide recommendations in relation to practice and decision-making Present organized and professionally-enhancing tools, strategies and insights Written by internationally-recognized leaders and expert contributors, The Role of Knowledge Brokers in Education brings together extensive and global perspectives in an accessible yet comprehensive volume. This book is an invaluable resource for educational leaders worldwide who are interested in using or generating research for school improvement, as well as researchers, academics, and students in schools of education.

The Knowledge Translation Toolkit provides a thorough overview of what knowledge translation (KT) is and how to use it most effectively to bridge the "know-do" gap between research, policy, practice, and people. It presents the theories, tools, and strategies required to encourage and enable evidence-informed decision-making. This toolkit builds upon extensive research into the principles and skills of KT: its theory and literature, its evolution, strategies, and challenges. The book covers an array of crucial KT enablers--from context mapping to evaluative thinking--supported by practical examples, implementation guides, and references. Drawing from the experience of specialists in relevant disciplines around the world, The Knowledge Translation Toolkit aims to enhance the capacity and motivation of researchers to use KT and to use it well. The Tools in this book will help researchers ensure that their good science reaches more people, is more clearly understood, and is more likely to lead to positive action. In sum, their work becomes more useful, and therefore, more valuable.

This volume explores the impact of research?practice partnerships in education (broadly conceived) on communities in which such partnerships operate. By invitation, some of the partnerships celebrated in this volume are firmly established, while others are more embryonic; some directly engage community members, while others are nurtured in and by supportive communities. Collectively, however, the eleven chapters constitute a range of compelling instances of knowledge utilization (knowledge mobilization), and offer a counter?narrative to the stereotypical divide between researchers and practitioners. Educational researchers and educational practitioners reside in and are both politically supported and socially sustained by their local communities. The nesting of researchers’ and practitioners’ collaborative decision?making and action in the financial, social, organizational, and political contexts of the community—together with the intended and unintended outcomes of those decisions and actions—speaks to the essence of community impact in the context of this volume.

This ground-breaking book comprehensively addresses an area of major and sustained concern: how to improve the use of research evidence and enhance educators’ research engagement as a route to the improvement of educational practice. It focuses on the topic of knowledge brokering and mobilization in education, and its role in fostering evidence-informed practice. Divided into three sections, each addressing a different role of knowledge mobilizers, the book is based in clear evidentiary grounding. The chapters: Explore payoffs and challenges of connecting research to practice Provide recommendations in relation to practice and decision-making Present organized and professionally-enhancing tools, strategies and insights Written by internationally-recognized leaders and expert contributors, The Role of Knowledge Brokers in Education brings together extensive and global perspectives in an accessible yet comprehensive volume. This book is an invaluable resource for educational leaders worldwide who are interested in using or generating research for school improvement, as well as researchers, academics, and students in schools of education.