Teaching programme evaluation: A problem of knowledge

This article conceptualises the problem of selecting teaching content that supports the practice of programme evaluation. Knowledge for evaluation practice falls within one of three categories of knowledge that are defined by the different roles they play in supporting practice. First, core knowledge relates to the defining activity of evaluation practice, i.e., that it informs the intellectual task of the determination of a programme’s value. Second, accessory knowledge informs activities that support and facilitate the concretisation of the previous activity in a delivery context (e.g., stakeholder participation, evaluation use, project management, etc.). Third and finally, supplementary knowledge informs activities that may, on occasion, occur during evaluation practice, but without relating to the determination of value, either inherently or in a support role. The selection of knowledge for the teaching of evaluation must match the knowledge needed for the pursuit of effective evaluation practice: core, accessory, and supplementary knowledge. The specifics of these three needs ultimately depend on the characteristics of a given practice. The selection of content for the teaching of evaluation should ideally address these specific needs with the best knowledge available, regardless of its disciplinary origins.