Knowledge Utilization in Educational Policy and Politics: Conceptualizing and Mapping the Domain

Abstract

Based on the authors' work on the Knowledge Base Project for the University Council for Educational Administration, they have constructed a heuristic, conceptual map of how knowledge is used in educational policy and politics. In this article, they present this conceptual map and analyze its implications for research and practice. The basic framework, which is graphically represented and explained, consists of three intersecting dimensions: policy control mechanisms, paradigm versus parameter-knowledge types, and five distinctive analytical levels. The authors find that a troublesome gap exists between believable paradigms of educational policy and politics and documented operational parameters for these paradigms. Problem such as these, highlighted by the mapping, suggest areas in which future research is especially needed.

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