Mobilizing Knowledge in Frontline Work: A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Exploration

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mobilizing Knowledge in Frontline Work

T2 - A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Exploration

AU - Møller, Anne Mette

PY - 2022/3

Y1 - 2022/3

N2 - Frontline workers bring different forms of knowledge to bear on decisions and actions. Even so, knowledge has so far received limited attention in the street-level literature. This article develops a nuanced understanding of what constitutes knowledge in frontline work and shows how different forms of knowledge are mobilized on the ground. Taking a practice-based and abductive approach, the article draws on qualitative data from a multi-sited organizational ethnography in three Danish child welfare agencies as well as insights from a broad range of literature to build a conceptual framework for studying knowledge mobilization in frontline work. The framework delineates three interdependent forms of knowledge-knowledge-that, knowledge-how, and knowledge-by-acquaintance-that are all essential in frontline work. Knowledge-that is explicit and includes research evidence. Knowledge-how is rooted in experience and acquired through practice. Knowledge-by-acquaintance is rooted in encounters and denotes frontline workers' "sense"of a case or situation. The empirical work shows how each form of knowledge is mobilized in practice. The findings yield important insights into the dynamics of knowledge mobilization at the frontlines, including the detrimental effects of rapid turnover, the conditions for realizing ideals such as evidence-based practice and data-driven decision-making, and the potential implications of digitalization and algorithmization.

AB - Frontline workers bring different forms of knowledge to bear on decisions and actions. Even so, knowledge has so far received limited attention in the street-level literature. This article develops a nuanced understanding of what constitutes knowledge in frontline work and shows how different forms of knowledge are mobilized on the ground. Taking a practice-based and abductive approach, the article draws on qualitative data from a multi-sited organizational ethnography in three Danish child welfare agencies as well as insights from a broad range of literature to build a conceptual framework for studying knowledge mobilization in frontline work. The framework delineates three interdependent forms of knowledge-knowledge-that, knowledge-how, and knowledge-by-acquaintance-that are all essential in frontline work. Knowledge-that is explicit and includes research evidence. Knowledge-how is rooted in experience and acquired through practice. Knowledge-by-acquaintance is rooted in encounters and denotes frontline workers' "sense"of a case or situation. The empirical work shows how each form of knowledge is mobilized in practice. The findings yield important insights into the dynamics of knowledge mobilization at the frontlines, including the detrimental effects of rapid turnover, the conditions for realizing ideals such as evidence-based practice and data-driven decision-making, and the potential implications of digitalization and algorithmization.

KW - frontline work

KW - Knowledge

KW - organizational ethnography

KW - street-level bureaucracy

KW - child welfare

KW - professionalism

U2 - 10.1093/ppmgov/gvab023

DO - 10.1093/ppmgov/gvab023

M3 - Journal article

SN - 2398-4929

VL - 5

SP - 50

EP - 62

JO - Perspectives on Public Management and Governance

JF - Perspectives on Public Management and Governance

IS - 1

M1 - 023

ER -