What If Evaluation Takes Place Seated Around the Table Whilst Enjoying a Drink? : A Social Practice View of Evaluation of Development Education

Zozimo, Joana (2020) What If Evaluation Takes Place Seated Around the Table Whilst Enjoying a Drink? : A Social Practice View of Evaluation of Development Education. Journal of International Development, 32 (3). pp. 302-323. ISSN 0954-1748

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Abstract

This article critically explores the evaluation practice of practitioners working in an English development education organization on the basis of an in-depth longitudinal case study. Ethnographically collected data include observations, documentary analysis and 26 semi-structured interviews with funders, practitioners and coordinators that capture what they do on a daily basis and how they attribute meaning and value to their practice of evaluation. Social practice theory locates evaluation as an everyday routinized practice. A typology of practitioners' engagement in evaluation practice reveals the importance of the reflective and socio-relational features in evaluation in order to transform its practice into an enjoyable experience.