Knowledge networks for educational planning: issues and strategies

Author(s)
Hudson, Barclay M.; Davis, Russell G.; Mason, David; Siembab, Walter
Languages
English
Series
IIEP Research Report, 35
Year
1980
Pages
207 p.
Country

Online version

About the publication

Focusing on educational development in lesser developed countries, this paper examines knowledge about ways to improve the linking of the producers of educational planning (such as universities, institutes, and other agencies) to the potential users of such knowledge (such as technical assistance agencies, sponsors, client groups consisting of teachers and ministry officials, and primary groups consisting of students and their communities). The three principal objectives of the study were to explore (1) the potential for designing knowledge networks to achieve better utilization of existing knowledge, (2) the application of cost-effectiveness to educational planning efforts, and (3) improved sensitivity of knowledge networks to the distinctive needs of primary groups, particulary among the rural poor. Although not recommending a single optimal strategy for improving the utilization of educational planning knowledge, the report draws on a range of past planning experiences to illustrate some of the options and tactics available. Six case studies of network functioning suggest that in effective networks, knowledge flows both from the "top down" and from the "bottom up" (from ERIC database)