ABSTRACT
The dissemination of the findings of educational research in a form in which it can be readily utilized by practitioners is a perennial problem. Although the linear model remains the only practicable means of disseminating some forms of research data, alternative models have recently emerged which involve the creation of contexts in which both practitioners and researchers are active participants and in which the meaning of research findings is negotiated. A number of developments have precipitated this process including the growing influence in the social sciences of phenomenological approaches to knowledge, the recognition of the symbolic and political significance of research data, changing attitudes towards professional knowledge, the evidence of studies in communication and diffusion, and the technological developments in knowledge retrieval. These factors have led to the emergence of the knowledge-utilization movement which has had a particularly strong impact on curriculum development and an increasing influence on the relationship between researchers and practitioners. In the contexts which are created, research data rubs shoulders with experiential knowledge, resource constraints, policy positions and political beliefs.
