My social media feeds recently have been filled with calls that “you” not be political. I am included in the “you” because I am an educator (retired from almost 30 years in K-12 and continuing to teach and support teachers in community colleges). I am also included in the “you” as I have a background Read More
Category: Wicked Problems
Students’ Experiences Matter
Teaching is an inherently wicked problem. (This idea has been addressed multiple times in this blog– search for “wicked.”) In 1973, scholars Rittel and Webber defined wicked problems as those that are ill-defined and that are judged only from the perspective of the individual who experienced the solution. A defining characteristic of wicked problems is Read More
Diversity of Solutions to Wicked Problems
When Rittel and Webber (1973) first defined wicked problems, they concluded that leaders cannot reasonably identify a single solution to a given social problem. They observed “that diverse values are held by different groups of individuals—[so] what satisfies one may be abhorrent to another, [and] what comprise problem-solution for one is problem-generation for another,” and Read More
Descriptions of Courses Never Taught
School Technology: A Wicked Problem Description: Schools are becoming technology-rich places, but that technology does not always translate into meaningful experiences for students. This course approaches school technology as a problem that is too poorly understood with blurred boundaries and inaccurate assumptions. Leaders will be introduced to strategies that recognize multiple perspectives on technology, teaching, Read More
Because Education is Wicked
This brief post continues the theme of: Wicked Problems Transparent Taming of Wicked Problems Solving Wicked Problems Wicked Solutions Matter Because education is a wicked technology, it is anticipated that curriculum and instruction designed for 21st century classrooms will be assessed and evaluated using terms such as good or bad, working or dysfunctional, acceptable or Read More
Hermeneutic and Naturalistic Approaches to Research and Planning
Hermeneutic researchers fall into the hermeneutic cycle (see figure 1) in which an artifact is interpreted in light of the culture and then the culture is reinterpreted in light of the emerging understanding of the artifact. This cycle between the whole of the culture being reconstructed and the parts of the culture embodied in the Read More
Wicked Solutions Matter
The idea of wicked problems has been addressed in previous posts on this blog: Wicked Problems Transparent Taming of Wicked Problems Solving Wicked Problems In my definition of wicked problems, I pointed out that “Every Solution Matters,” specifically I wrote: Wicked problems are social, so when planners design and implement a solution, it affects the Read More
Frameworks Defined
A continuum can be created with educational scholars placed at one extreme and educators at the other; educational theory is placed on the extreme with scholars and models of instruction are placed on the extreme with practitioners. Between these two extremes, there exists a gap that must be filled if instruction is to be informed Read More
Transparent Taming of Wicked Problems
In ta previous post, 21st century education was presented as a wicked problem. Whereas tame problems are definable (cause and effect can be clearly identified), understandable (methods for resolving the problem are known or can be known), and consensual (reasonable people will agree on the need to solve it), wicked problems are none of these; Read More
Wicked Problems
In the 1973 article, “Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning,” Horst Rittel, who was a professor of the science of design at the University of California, Berkeley and Melvin Webber, who was a professor of city planning at the same institution, recognized many problems include a social dimension. While many problems are complex and Read More