Educational brokerage and knowledge mobilization in the United States: Who, what, why, how?

Abstract

Although the central role of educational intermediaries that can connect research and practice is increasingly appreciated, our present understanding of their motivations, products, and processes is inadequate. In response, this chapter reports on a multiple-case study that asks how and why three large-scale U.S.-based intermediaries—Edutopia, the Marshall Memo, and Usable Knowledge—are engaging in brokerage activities, and compares the features of the knowledge they seek to share and mobilize. These entities were deliberately chosen and expected to reveal diversity along these dimensions. Multiple data sources were analyzed, based primarily upon Ward’s (2017) knowledge mobilization framework and Hubers and Poortman’s (2017) three suggested principles for effective boundary crossing in education. These entities contrasted widely, especially in relation to core knowledge dimensions, enabling us to identify two distinct brokerage types. To conclude, we describe theoretical (how to conceptualize brokerage) and practical (how to foster interactive knowledge exchange) implications. This study also reveals certain innovative mobilization approaches, including skillful use of social media and the production of videos depicting how and why to adopt particular strategies, which we suggest others may wish to emulate or adjust/adapt.