Networks Knowledge Brokers And The Public Policymaking Process

Social network analysis provides a meaningful lens for advancing a more nuanced understanding of the communication networks and practices that bring together policy advocates and practitioners in their day-to-day efforts to broker evidence into policymaking processes. This book advances knowledge brokerage scholarship and methodology as applied to policymaking contexts, focusing on the ways in which knowledge and research are utilized, and go on to influence policy and practice decisions across domains, including communication, health and education. There is a growing recognition that knowledge brokers – key intermediaries – have an important role in calling attention to research evidence that can facilitate the successful implementation of evidence-informed policies and practices. The chapters in this volume focus explicitly on the history of knowledge brokerage research in these contexts and the frameworks and methodologies that bridge these disparate domains. The contributors to this volume offer useful typologies of knowledge brokerage and explicate the range of causal mechanisms that enable knowledge brokers’ influence on policymaking. The work included in this volume responds to this emerging interest by comparing, assessing, and delineating social network approaches to knowledge brokerage across domains. The book is a useful resource for students and scholars of social network analysis and policymaking, including in health, communication, public policy and education policy.

This book examines the educational role of three international organizations created as part of the post-World War II multilateral architecture: the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Bank, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These organizations have significantly promoted and shaped education as a fundamental feature of the modernization of society and contributed to the globalization of educational norms, policies and technologies. Drawing on primary source materials and interviews, the book provides novel perspectives to the literature on the global governance of education by focusing on the historical entanglements, relations and power struggles between these three organizations, rather than treating them separately. The study sheds light on the homogenizing effects of globalized educational policy-making and the shifting power dynamics in the global governance of education. ‘This book makes a very distinctive and important contribution to the literature that critically analyses the influence of the global agencies on education globally; it goes beyond the standard discursive analyses of policy texts to also explore the history of those organisations through archival research and in-depth interviews of the key personnel. What emerges is a powerful analysis which locates those agencies within their historical epochs and shines a light on their tensions and micro-politics, both internally and between organisations.’ Paul Morris, Professor of Comparative Education, Institute of Education, University College London, UK ‘A must-read historical account of the intermingling, boundary setting and competition between the three big intergovernmental organizations (IOs) in education: OECD, UNESCO, and the World Bank. Different from other scholars that document how these IOs have transformed themselves in response to external and internal changes, Elfert and Ydesen draw attention to the relational aspect: how have these three IOs navigated conflict, carved niches, and used and abused each other to amplify and expand their own mission? How have they done so in an environment that is crowded with intergovernmental and international organizations, each with a claim to govern education globally?’ Gita Steiner-Khamsi, Professor of Comparative and International Education, Teachers College, Columbia University; UNESCO Chair of Comparative Education Policy of the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies 'This volume is a thoughtful and timely work of scholarship. Understanding the roles of UNESCO, the OECD and the World Bank is central to understanding contemporary education in global perspective. Elfert and Ydesen’s historical analysis sets out in rigorous detail how these organisations have evolved, and what has shaped and driven this evolution. The historical analysis is complemented by contemporary interview data, facilitating an actor-level analysis as well as a broader picture. The book is conceptually and theoretically rich while being accessibly written; the authors manage complexity remarkably well. For anyone interested in global governance and the role of international organisations, or anyone who wants to understand in general how global educational agendas have developed and converged, this book is a most valuable read.' Michele Schweisfurth, Professor of Comparative and International Education, University of Glasgow, UK Chapter "UNESCO, the OECD and the World Bank: A Global Governance Perspective” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Highlighting leadership from a social and relational perspective, this book has a particular emphasis on the innovative role that social networks play in systems change. The social systems engaged in this volume cut across a wide array of stakeholder groups, ranging from student learners, pre-service/in-service teachers, administrators, community leaders, and out to organizations and communities that reflect well beyond the education sector, showcasing diverse perspectives from multiple areas and international settings. Bringing together 32 distinguished scholars from Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Taiwan, the UK and the USA, this book explores the use of social networks in education across different contexts and settings, connecting it with leadership practice that works at these settings for change. The contributors also examine online and virtual social behaviors and their connections to face to face networks. Ultimately, the volume showcases that leadership is social influence through examining a variety of social systems through social relationships. In addition to the breadth of studies connecting innovative leadership research to practice in this volume, the contributors also explore a new area of social networks and leadership by examining online and virtual social behaviors and their connections to face to face networks. Ultimately, the selected chapters in this volume make the point that “leadership is social influence” through examining a variety of social systems through social relationships.

How is UK drugs policy made, and why does it so often seem irrational when considering what works in reducing drug-related harms? This book explains how the concept of drug policy constellations – the loosely concerted policy actors with shared moral commitments that influenced policy outcomes – explains why there is no such thing as 'evidence-based' drug policy. Drawing on his participation in high-level policy discussions, and a novel approach to policy analysis, Stevens presents three recent cases involving key issues in UK illicit drug policy – medical cannabis, drug-related deaths and the government’s 10-year drug strategy.

Through this book, we seek to describe improvement science in action for educators, schools, districts, universities, and communities. This book is a venue for improvement research in education focused on the application of improvement science in educational settings. Improvement science requires extensive engagement in rigorous work to implement sustainable change at a systemic level. As the editors of this volume for the Leadership in School Improvement SIG book series, we hope that these chapters, written by researchers, practitioners, and leaders engaged in improvement science will help others begin their own improvement processes to achieve desired, equitable, and sustainable results for student success. ENDORSEMENTS: "Continuous Improvement: A Leadership Process for School Improvement brings together an impressive group of fieldleading improvement scholars, with deep connections to educational practice, to provide a powerful vision for what equity-centered improvement science looks like in action. The stories of improvement, partnership, and critical enabling conditions provide theoretically sound and practically useful guidance for anyone seeking to transform education organizations in service of more equitable learning opportunities for students." — Jennifer Lin Russell, Vanderbilt Peabody College "This is a moment of empowerment in education, with movements for social justice and continuous improvement providing motivations and methods to interrogate, disrupt, and rebuild education systems to support the holistic development of all students. This essential book provides compelling accounts of what it looks like -- and what is possible -- when educational professionals, researchers, and other stakeholders come together to seize this moment." — Donald Peurach, University of Michigan’s School of Education and Carnegie Foundation

Investigates the effects of research in the field of international development.. Examines the consequences of 23 research projects funded by Canada's International Development Research Centre in developing countries. Shows how research influence public policy and decision-making and how can contribute to better governance.

The Consulting Trap does a deep dive into how governments have become hooked on private consultancy firms with dire consequences for democratic decision-making, public accountability and accessible public services. Hurl and Werner contend that firms like McKinsey, Accenture, KPMG and Deloitte increasingly take responsibility for core public services, trapping governments in cycles of dependency. Through orchestrating tax avoidance for the wealthy while engineering austerity for the rest, these firms have created the foundations for the deepening privatization of the public services, further entrenching their power. Drawing on case studies from Canada and around the world, Hurl and Werner investigate how big consultancies leverage social networks, institutionalize relationships, mine and commodify data, and establish policy pipelines that facilitate the quick diffusion of ideas across jurisdictions. Drawing from real world examples, The Consulting Trap offers strategies for how these powerful firms can be resisted using people’s audits, public consultations, access to information requests, and social network analyses.