The Rise of Knowledge Brokers in Global Education Governance: (6 NORRAG Series on International Education and Development)

How do policymakers orient themselves in an era of surplus information? This insightful book presents a multidisciplinary investigation into the growing influence of knowledge brokers and how they utilize data to support education policy and planning. Contributors examine key actors' roles and strategies, contextual influences, and implications for equity and inclusion in the education sector, giving voice to experts in academia, institutional think tanks and intergovernmental organizations. Illustrating brokerage concepts through distinct cases, it demonstrates that institutional approaches are markedly different, and highlights the ways in which knowledge brokers have been repurposed to bring about social change, signalling a noticeable shift in the global discourse on education governance. The Rise of Knowledge Brokers in Global Education Governance is a valuable resource for researchers, analysts and planners in global governance, education policy and administration, international relations, political science and policy studies. It is also of interest to policymakers engaging with data and evidence in global education governance.

Table of Contents:
Contents 1 Knowledge brokers in education and international cooperation: a typology with blurred boundaries 1 Gita Steiner-Khamsi 2 Navigating the terrain: global knowledge brokering and use in education policy 25 Chanwoong Baek 3 Knowledge exchange for educational progress: the OECD’s approach to horizontal policy learning 43 Michael Ward and Melissa Mouthaan 4 Evidence labs in the education sector: a review and early reflection on the Jacobs Foundation journey 77 Samuel Kembou and Donika Dimovska 5 “What works”? Power and politics in studies of evidence use in policy 97 Moira V. Faul, Anna Numa Hopkins and Bart Sebastiaan Gabriel 6 Lessons learned about promoting knowledge production and utilization in low- and middle-income countries 131 Tricia Wind and Margarita López 7 Uptake of research evidence in Kyrgyzstan and Moldova policy and planning decisions 149 Julia Levin, José Luís Benito Canêlhas and Janyl Bokonbaeva 8 Evidence production, promotion, and pollution: private interests and knowledge brokerage in US education policy 173 Christopher Lubienski, Joel Malin and Emma Rowe 9 Knowledge brokerage and global governance: current research trends and future avenues for research 193 Chanwoong Baek and Gita Steiner-Khamsi 10 Can we trust “evidence” in policymaking? 201 Maren Elfert

About the Author :
Edited by Chanwoong Baek, Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations and Political Science; Academic Director of NORRAG; UNESCO Co-Chair in Comparative Education Policy, Geneva Graduate Institute, Switzerland and Gita Steiner-Khamsi, Professor, Teachers College, Columbia University, USA

Review :
‘This timely book insightfully explores the intersections between science and policy following the “knowledge turn” in global education governance. The book not only draws attention to the relationship between knowledge and expertise, but shows the ways in which brokering itself involves the complicated art of influence.’ ‘This 10-chapter edited book examines the rise of knowledge brokers in global education governance within a two-community framework of science and politics. It offers valuable insights for anyone seeking to understand the complex interplay between science and politics in the field of international cooperation in education policy. It is an immensely useful resource for comparative and international education studies and for interrogating the nexus between politics and evidence.’ ‘Chanwoong Baek and Gita Steiner-Khamsi have assembled a set of scholars who illuminate the differing definitions and models of knowledge brokering, with particular attention to international organizations such as OECD and the World Bank. This book is essential reading for understanding the political origins of education policy, planning, and implementation on the world stage.’ ‘The notion that in the formulation and enactment of education policy and governance a range of new knowledge brokers emerged, beyond the traditional producers of knowledge, is now widely recognized. What is less well understood however is how and why has their influence grown so rapidly, and with what consequences. The essays in this important and timely book interrogate these questions in ways that are empirically grounded and analytically astute. They also examine how the various knowledge brokers, both traditional and emerging, collaborate and compete, and how their emergence has created a complicated and highly contested space of knowledge production in education, giving rise a range of important issues that policy makers and researchers can ill afford to overlook.’