Knowledge Management within the Education Profession - Essay Example

?Knowledge Management within the Education Profession Department Introduction Knowledge management within the educational profession refers to a set of procedures that makes eminent sense through a combination of practical expertise gained through experience, good intuition, and a feel of what can be likely described as a set of emerging theories that focus on effective knowledge management continuum within educational institutions (Hansen, 2000). Pertinent to the field of education with regard to knowledge management entail two fundamental aspects; how to embrace and integrate knowledge management principles and how to avoid misunderstanding of such principles. Evidently, application of such knowledge management principles is in essence important with regard to improving educational efficiency. In the recent past, educational administrators have attempted to improve the efficiency of their tasks through knowledge management. Therefore, this report aims at investigating how knowledge management enables educators in an institution to develop and set effective practices to collect information and share what they know will ultimately lead to improved educational outcomes. In making this attempt, however, this report explicitly clarifies that people, in this regard educators, processes, and technology are important aspects in ensuring effective knowledge management. Finally, on its critique on the effectiveness of an educational institution based on the integration of knowledge management, this report indicates some of the processes that if adopted, even though proving to be effective on its facial view, can derail the entire process. In light of the internal and external demands for improvement and accountability in education, combined with the many and increasing demands on the time of the instructors, staff, and faculty, educational systems and institutions at all levels currently seek to understand how they can effectively collect, share, and disseminate information. As institutions dedicated to education, moreover, they too well understand that knowledge is their key asset and most educational institutions are seeking better ways of transforming knowledge into effective decision-making and action. 1. Educational administrators have been improving the efficiency of their task through employing knowledge management tools. Instructors within the education profession have been utilizing management tools for a considerable number of years to improve the efficiency of administrative services and the effectiveness of academic programs. From the past, the practice of knowledge management within the education profession has primarily been focusing on the technical systems that are implemented to collect, organize, and disseminate the institution’s expanse of quantitative data in areas such as accounting, finance, and enrolment planning. With the increasing number of trustees, state legislatures, teachers, administrators, faculty members, students, and parents begun to seek better education outcomes or at least have a better sense of what current outcomes measure, in the case of higher education, most educational institutions and systems have invested in technology to generate data that can provide answers to those seeking improved performance. Among the primary benefits of knowledge management underpins the fact that it actively addresses both the information culture and technology culture unique to the organizational context of the college, school, or university (Kellick, 2011, P. 150). The technology culture can be thought of as the institution’s use and integration of technology in planning, development, operations, and assessment. The information culture, on the other hand, involves information processes and politics for sharing information within and across the organization. 2. Knowledge management enables educators in an institution to develop and set practices to collect information and share what they know, leading to action that improves services and educational outcomes within an institution. In an attempt to balance an organization’s information culture and its technology culture, knowledge management unifies three core organizational resources within an education setting: people, technologies, and processes, to enable the organization use and share information in a more effective way. 3. Evidently, from the above diagram, people, not systems, manage knowledge. However, education institutions can promote policies and practices that help people share and manage knowledge. Knowledge management builds upon professional and collegial teamwork through actively engaging people at many organizational levels in sharing with others what they know, and what they are learning. In most schools, colleges, and universities, working groups of staff and teachers from across departments have come together by common need and exchange of information because it makes their work more rewarding and effective (Wenger, 2002, P. 245). These groups establish trust, expertise, and relationships; they create a shared repertoire of tools, artifacts, and resources that support future learning. In most educational institutions, these kinds of informal, self-sustaining collegial bodies include informal research, and study groups. They are often at the center of innovation and energy, sometimes due to lack of acknowledgement or attention from above. In this regard therefore, knowledge management seeks to foster the utility and development of these communities of practice while maintaining their user control. 4. Informal and formal administrative procedures, information sharing patterns, curriculum development processes, salary incentives, information silos, and other practices affect the flow of information within every organization (Zumeta, 2011, P. 22). Such processes exist regardless of whether or not people opt to participate in or pay attention to them. To be able to curb this, knowledge assessments, maps, audits, and improvement plans, aids in establishing robust processes, which enable people to access needed information at an appropriate time, as well as share it with others who may benefit from it. Therefore, in highlighting patterns of information use that are likely to be obvious otherwise, knowledge management practices help in promoting those processes that lead to more informed decision-making. 5. Technology is at the center of fostering knowledge management within the education profession. However, this technology needs to be recast not as a cost center that puts strain on limited resources for colleges and schools, nor as a driver of knowledge management, but as an important and necessary contributor towards the effectiveness and health of an institution. The most effective technologies within a knowledge management framework are broadly accessible to target user groups and enhance the exchange and tracking of useful information across departments. Evidently, knowledge management is a way that if adopted, can inform a wide range of practices within, and can shape values of, an educational organization. A critique of the effectiveness of an educational institution based on the integration of knowledge management 6. However, integrating knowledge management is not just a simple task per se. it requires an explicit understanding of how to align, within a particular organizational context, three vital resources: people, technology, and resources, any of which can be ignored, but only at great cost to the organization and to those within it (Bates, 2010, P. 22). Therefore, organizations that invest in technology as a form of knowledge management without understanding their existing organizational and human patterns of information sharing are not attaining the potential of their investment. Similarly, education institutions, which invest majorly in information sharing processes but do not have effective means of tracking student outcomes, are tying the hands of their employees. Enhanced innovation and creativity, improved decision-making, and stronger lateral lines, as well as vertical communication, are essential outgrowths of knowledge management. For educational institutions, nonetheless, the full promise of knowledge management lies within its opportunities for improving student outcomes. The ultimate benefit of this, of course, is to the learners, instructors, and the entire education fraternity. 7. The power of knowledge management, particularly when compared to other change efforts, is that it sustains its focus on people, on staff, faculty, and students, and their needs. As stated by Zumeta (2011, P. 17), there is no quick fix for managing knowledge in an organization. Similarly, there is no sole system, regardless of its integration and complexity, which can manage knowledge. In the ultimate analysis, they are people who manage knowledge, and it is the role of the respective organization to promote practices and policies that help individuals desire to effectively manage and share knowledge. For this to be possible, Bushweller (2000, P. 27), affirms that those within the organization ought to recognize a value in involving themselves in knowledge management practices. That is, despite that the prime motivator for educators is, most often, their desire to assist learners be as successful as possible, there ought to be something in it for educators. Therefore, implementing knowledge management within organizations is more difficult when non-collaboration is the norm, or when data and information infrastructures are under-funded or otherwise have a diminished capacity. Knowledge management is likely to take root in communities that need to share knowledge to realize their goals, that have some information sharing norms instituted, and that have a leader willing to sponsor the effort. 8. Every educational institution has work processes, patterns of information flow, and administrative procedures, but some organizations are more deliberate than others are in examining and improving them. Knowledge and information audits that examine work processes and information can be of value in helping important people in the organization to recognize patterns that are overlooked on a daily basis. It is important to know, for instance, which faculty and staff are burdened with what kinds of routine processes. Besides, for effective knowledge management, it is important to tie work processes to the goals and mission of the institution. The other necessary element is identifying the trigger points for information sharing and control. It is also important to note that knowledge management practices need to be objects of examination and discussion. There is no cookie-cutter approach that will be useful in all instructions. Therefore, selecting appropriate knowledge management tools depends on the people involved, the organizational context and history, and the goals that people seek (Brown, 2011, P. 48). Conclusion Knowledge management is therefore at the heart of all the processes of an educational institution. Embracing its principles is important with regard to improving educational outcomes. Such knowledge management practices do offer ways through which individuals build on; organize efforts; share information, knowledge, and resources; and bring about improvement. The most successful efforts start at a low note, with pilot projects, and later on expand to more encompassing and larger initiatives and mainly focus on people and their needs. Within educational institutions, knowledge management practices are both appropriate and promising. Democratization of data and the sharing of information induce individuals at every level to contribute, participate, interact, learn, and grow while mastering higher order skill sets. Making sense of information that is necessary to success is a vital step; imparting what one learns and knows others is more difficult and rewarding still. However, as indicated in the critique part, for knowledge management to be effective within an educational institution, it is important that procedures adopted be effective and not a merge of principles that can bring the system to a halt. Ultimately, knowledge management is not an end in itself or an all-encompassing system, which will bring about change. Rather, it merely offers a set of values and practices some of which are appropriate for one organization, others for another that assist individuals to better attain their goals. As in most initiatives that are transformative, what is of ultimate essence is vision, passion, leadership, and persistence. References Bates, A. W, 2010, Managing Technological Change: Strategies for College and University Leaders, San Francisco: Josse-Bass. Brown, J. S, 2011, Sustaining the Ecology of Knowledge, Leader to Leader, 12, 31-36. Bushweller, K, 2000, The Smarter Office, Electronic School, March, 26-28. Hansen, M, 2000, Strategies for Knowledge Management, Harvard Business Review, 77 (2), 106-116. Kellick, B, 2011, Information Technology for Schools: Creating Practical Knowledge to Improve Student Performance, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Sallis, E., & Jones, G, 2002, Knowledge Management in Education: Enhancing Learning and Education, London: Kogan Page. Wenger, E, 2002, Cultivating Communities of Practice, Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing. Zumeta, W, 2011, Accountability: Challenges for Higher Education, Public Policy Review, 15 (4), 5-22. Read More