Expertise on Offer: Why Isn’t Anyone Buying?

Abstract

It is a much-lamented fact that research with the potential to inform or influence education policy instead remains policy inert. There are many reasons for this frustrating state of affairs, including a lack of strategic thinking on the part of researchers on how to successfully accomplish outreach—as opposed to communication with peers (in-reach). Another, and a principal focus of this article, is the failure of researchers to appreciate the power of employing compelling narratives to bring their findings to the attention of policymakers and other stakeholders. Accordingly, this article presents some examples of narratives specifically designed for outreach and discusses some of their features. It also considers the challenges in gaining traction with counternarratives once a particular narrative has achieved currency. Researchers should also be mindful of the tenor of the times, with experts now often viewed with skepticism, if not downright hostility. In some quarters, excessive reliance on technocrats is even seen as a threat to democratic governance. The article concludes with some recommendations on how to appropriately enhance the role of research in education policymaking.