Equity-centered knowledge brokering: taking stock of challenges, strategies, and possibilities
Date
2024-12-16
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers in Education
Abstract
The pursuit of equity is a cornerstone of progress across diverse fields. Emerging literature across several fields has begun to focus on how knowledge brokers can take an equity-centered approach. This narrative synthesis draws upon that literature to explore what it means to be an equity-centered knowledge broker and to consider the challenges and possibilities inherent in that role. It identifies critical equity issues/dimensions vis-à-vis five main brokering strategies. From this review, the strategy facilitating relationships emerges as a first-order strategy for equity-centered brokers, with impacts stretching into all other areas. Therefore, equity-centered brokers should attend heavily to developing authentic, trusting relationships, value diversity, and elevate multiple forms of knowledge. This article also highlights some challenges and ongoing tensions relevant to equity-centered brokering. Relational, equity-centered knowledge brokering is time- and resource-intensive. Likewise, ongoing debates center on the merit of assuming a neutral brokering posture. Overall, it is hoped this article will benefit knowledge brokers, those with whom they partner, and those scholars who seek to understand and support them.
Description
This article was originally published in Frontiers in Education by Frontiers Media. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1436150.
© 2024 Malin and Shewchuk. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Keywords
knowledge brokering, knowledge mobilization, narrative synthesis, ethics, equity, social justice, relationships, power
Citation
Malin JR and Shewchuk S (2024) Equity-centered knowledge brokering: taking stock of challenges, strategies, and possibilities. Front. Educ. 9:1436150. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1436150