Editorial: Networks and knowledge brokering: advancing foundations, inviting complexity

Date
2025-01-27
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers in Education
Abstract
Framing the Research Topic As educational ecosystems become increasingly complex and diverse, understanding how knowledge brokerage and relational networks interact can offer pathways for strengthening connections among research, policy, and practice. Knowledge brokers have garnered attention for their capacity to navigate evidence and adapt it for various audiences, while relational networks—spanning professional communities, partnerships, and organizational structures—provide channels through which knowledge flows and evolves. Yet, much of the current literature examines these phenomena independently, and we lack integrated perspectives that clarify how they co-influence policy decision-making, on-the-ground educational change, and system-wide learning. This Research Topic aims to bridge this gap by examining how knowledge brokers operate within relational networks to cultivate evidence-informed policy and practice in education. Its dual objectives are to advance theoretical and empirical understandings of these intertwined processes and to translate these insights into concrete, actionable guidance for policymakers, educational leaders and practitioners, and researchers.
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.2025.1555200. © 2025 MacGregor, Rodway and Farley-Ripple. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). 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 brokerage, networks, network analysis, educational research, professional learning
Citation
MacGregor S, Rodway J and Farley-Ripple E (2025) Editorial: Networks and knowledge brokering: advancing foundations, inviting complexity. Front. Educ. 10:1555200. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1555200