Teachers' Informal Rationality

Abstract

A new area of research focuses on knowledge and its use and significance in relation to teachers in schools. Previous knowledge utilization research focused more on scientific and technical knowledge used by decisionmakers; now research is examining such topics as how evaluations influence teachers' work, how information should be arranged and transmitted, and how educational research results are utilized and by whom. Other interesting questions concern how individual teachers are influenced and develop in their work, how they conceive knowledge and experiences, what the concept “utilization” means to them, and where they find the initiative and inspiration to improve and change their way of working. This article discusses what we know about utilization processes, starting from general studies on utilization of research and then focusing on those specific to educational settings. In our discussion, we point to factors that can perhaps facilitate the use of knowledge in school. Our view is that the use of knowledge must be understood in its social context and in its relation to how different people comprehend it, and what meaning it has for each of them.