Using concept mapping to identify conditions that foster knowledge translation from the perspective of school practitioners

Abstract

This article examines the efficacy of using concept mapping to identify the key dimensions that influence the use of research-based information by school practitioners, including teachers, educational counsellors, and school administrators. This mapping exercise was the first step in developing a competency framework for translation of research-based knowledge in education. Its aim was to provoke collective reflection of key stakeholders in the education sector who are already playing a role in knowledge transfer in their settings, to find out what should be done to make the scientific knowledge more useful to professional practices in schools. Altogether, the exercise identified eight domains that, according to respondents, influence the use of research in schools. These results were subsequently validated by three subgroups of participants and compared against the scientific literature on the topic to lay the foundation for identifying competencies that should be included in the framework. The map produced in the exercise described in this article presents a first picture of how things should be, in education, in order for teachers, educational counsellors, and school administrators to be informed by research-based information. The concept mapping methodology used in this study combined qualitative and quantitative approaches and was based on the active participation of key stakeholders. In the context of a project to develop a competency framework to foster knowledge translation, we consider this method to be appropriate and compares favourably with other group techniques.