The generative impacts of redistributive quantum funding : managing quality education research to extend talent, sustain openness and build toolkits

Australia’s primary, secondary and service industries are now being supplemented by the emergence of (multilingual) knowledge economies. A key message from the decade-old debate over these changes is that knowledge creation is now a key source of socio-economic viability, community renewal and environmental sustainability. This chapter explores what this framing might mean for the quality and impact of educational research given the restructuring and de-structuring of Australia’s research funding assessment exercise. To begin, we reprise our understanding of the ‘generative impacts’ of quality educational research and, thereby help give meaning to the idea of “quality education research.” We then explain the three key elements driving renewed strategic planning efforts for managing the quality and impact of educational research. The first point is that quality educational research and its impact express and reflect the larger intellectual arcs and contributions of extended webs of talented knowledge producers. Second, we outline the generative impacts associated with sustaining openness for educational research via moves to improve access to quality research so as to enhance its impact on educational pedagogies, policies and politics. Third, we argue for advances in the instrumental and conceptual toolkits used for research. Building the capability and functionalities required for partnership-based research provides the context for this discussion.