Demystifying knowledge production and transfer in education policy

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Nowadays, the influence of knowledge and expertise cannot be overlooked in education policymaking. The production of knowledge for policymaking as well as the mobility of knowledge on policies and best practices have become a booming business. Therefore, this paper explores actors, networks, and the interdependency between countries by looking at the production and mobility of (policy) knowledge in education. It offers insights into knowledge production in IGOs, knowledge transfer from research to policymaking, and policy-related knowledge mobility between countries to further demystify the machinery of expertise, knowledge production, mobility, and policymaking.

In the past decades, intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and national governments have placed great emphasis on evidence-based policy, with a premise that knowledge can effectively inform policy planning, implementation, and evaluation. The use of evidence and data has been promoted as “unique sources of universalized truth” (Mundy, 2021). However, extensive research on the politics of knowledge has discussed the challenges associated with evidence-based policy planning and called for a critical analysis of how knowledge is produced, used, and transferred in the policy process within and across institutional, systemic, and geographical boundaries (e.g., Cairney, 2015).

IGOs such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank for example have become one of the main knowledge producers and brokers in education policy (e.g., Seitzer et al., 2023). Employing various policy instruments such as international large-scale assessments (e.g., Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA]), policy reviews, and progress reports, IGOs have shaped the global education agenda and influenced the infrastructure, epistemology, and discourse concerning national education policy and practice. As IGOs present as experts working within and around the rules of academic knowledge production, various studies have explored the interplay between academic literature and the production of policy documents by IGOs, as well as government-produced publications (Baek, 2018, Alasuutari et al. 2018, Steiner-Khamsi et al. 2020, Syvärera et al. 2022). Additionally, scholars in comparative education policy have investigated the role of IGOs in controlling and managing the flow of information between countries (Ydesen, 2019; Zapp, 2017) and why and how policy ideas, knowledge, and practices of one country are borrowed from, exported to, and translated to other countries (see Steiner-Khamsi, 2004 for further discussion). Despite the various aforementioned theoretical frameworks and empirical findings surrounding knowledge production by IGOs, knowledge brokering, and knowledge mobility, the modality surrounding the use of this knowledge in practice is still understudied (e.g., Rycroft-Smith, 2022).

Building on this body of scholarship, this panel aims to further demystify knowledge production and transfer in education policy, with a particular focus on actors, networks, and relationships. For a thorough understanding of the intersection between knowledge and policy, it is essential to comprehend the implications of knowledge production and transfer, especially with respect to the ideational and cultural foundations of the transferred knowledge. While there has been much discussion on the role of IGOs as knowledge producers and brokers in education policy, there has been a lack of exploration on who contributes to and what constitutes the knowledge base of these organizations. Furthermore, the contextuality and relationality of travelling policy ideas, knowledge, and practices from one country to another need additional investigation. This panel consists of three presentations that address these gaps from various theoretical and methodological perspectives: the first presentation looks closely at who constructs global education policy knowledge, focusing on the authorship networks of the UNESCO, OECD, and World Bank publications. The second presentation examines how knowledge transfers from research to policy by analyzing the uptake of research publications in policy documents. The final presentation explores policy transfer from one country to another, drawing on the case of the Finnish education export to Brazil. The contributions examine different dimensions of knowledge dynamics, showcasing the interplay between knowledge producers and knowledge users, as well as between local contexts and global influences.

This panel offers an opportunity to question the prevailing norms and practices surrounding knowledge and policymaking. It allows us to critically analyze the underlying motivations, interests, and power structures that shape the production, dissemination, and utilization of knowledge in policymaking processes. By interrogating these dynamics, we can foster a more nuanced understanding of how knowledge is mobilized and how it ultimately influences policy decisions.

Sub Unit

• Globalization & Education SIG

Chair

• Chanwoong Baek, Geneva Graduate Institute & NORRAG

Individual Presentations

• Who produces global education policy knowledge? Comparing author networks of UNESCO, OECD, and World Bank publications - Chanwoong Baek, Geneva Graduate Institute & NORRAG

• Education for All: Mobilizing Knowledge for Equitable Policy - Helen Seitzer, University of Bremen

• Decolonizing knowledge production and circulation: an analysis of Finnish education export to Brazil - Helena Hinke Dobrochinski Candido, University of Helsinki