What (a) to Do about "Impact": A Bourdieusian Critique

Autor/in	Colley, Helen
Titel	What (a) to Do about "Impact": A Bourdieusian Critique
Quelle	In: British Educational Research Journal, 40 (2014) 4, S.660-681 (22 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0141-1926
DOI	10.1002/berj.3112
Schlagwörter	Educational Research; Research Utilization; Influences; Academic Freedom; Sociology; Foreign Countries; United Kingdom + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Bildungsforschung; Pädagogische Forschung; Forschungsumsetzung; Influence; Einfluss; Einflussfaktor; Akademische Freiheit; Soziologie; Ausland; Großbritannien
Abstract	This paper presents a research-based, theoretically-informed contribution to the debate on "impact" in educational research, and specifically a response to Gardner's 2011 presidential address to the British Educational Research Association. It begins by discussing the development of the research "impact" agenda as a global phenomenon, and reviews the current state of debate about "impact" in the UK's Research Excellence Framework. It goes on to argue that a radical alternative perspective on this agenda is needed, and outlines Bourdieu's sociology--including his much-neglected concept of "illusio"--as offering potential for generating critical insights into demands for "impact". The term "illusio" in particular calls us to examine the "stakes" that matter in the field of educational research: the objects of value that elicit commitment from players and are "worth the candle". This framework is then applied first to analyse an account of how an ESRC-funded project that I led was received by different research "users" as we sought to generate impact for our findings. Second, it is used to show that the field of educational research has changed; that it has bifurcated between the field of research production and that of research reception; and that the former is being subordinated to the latter. The paper concludes by arguing that, despite many educational researchers' commitments to "make a difference" in wider society, the research "impact" imperative is one that encroaches on academic freedom; and that academics need to find collective ways in which to resist it. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10