Bruce WaltuckM.A., Complexity, Chaos, and Creativity

President/Owner: Freethinc. . . For a Change

www.freethinc.com

THROUGH THE NEW LENS

COMPLEXITY AND THE PRACTICE OFSCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES YOU FACE?

WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPAL RESPONSES YOU USE?

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO IN A GIVEN SITUATION?

• BEST GUESS?

• IF IT WORKED, WAS IT “RIGHT” OR OPTIMAL? (Barrry B on parenting)

• “EVIDENCE-BASED” PRACTICES IN BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

DOMINANT DISCOURSE & THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

• LETTING THE DAYS GO BY?

• IDEAS

• BELIEFS

• BEHAVIOR/ACTION

• ANALYSIS/LEARRNING

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DOMINANT DISCOURSE,HISTORY, AND PRACTICE OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY

• What are the fundamental questions psychology seeks to answer? How have theories evolved? (theory, test, results, learn, keep/discard)

• What are the fundamental assumptions that drive K-12 school and teaching design?

• Are there “limiting beliefs” in the domains of “known knowns” and “known unknowns” that we should seek to change in ourselves and others?

AND…

• What is the biggest challenge you face in your work?

• What is the one thing you wish you knew. Or could to, to improve outcomes in your work?

• When an intervention worked, how do you know why it worked? When an intervention doesn’t work as planned or intended, how do you know what happened? What are the factors that determine whether something will work or not?

• What is the significance of community in educational outcomes, and how do our ideas about human behavior affect our view of schools in community?

DOMINANT IDEAS IN THE DOMINANT PARADIGM

• HIERARCHY

• ORGANIZATION AS MACHINE (SEE GARETH MORGAN)

• SOCIETAL NEEDS AND INTENTIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES (DIFFERENTIATION OF LABOR; ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY; WEALTH CREATION; EUDAIMONIA. SEE ADAM SMITH; DAVID KORTEN; UMAIR HAQUE)

THE BIG APPLE,OR… MISTER NEWTON EXPLAINS IT ALL

THE EMERGENCE OF IDEAS:CARL ROGERS AND FACILITATION

• Genuinely free of desire to impose ready-made truths or control the outcome (See Dale Hunt, “The Art of Facilitation” pg. 27)

• Help people engage in genuine dialogue

• Respectful hearing of all attitudes and feelings

• Members of a group permitted to choose, collectively and individually, their own processes, and work towards their own goals

SO THAT…• Long suppressed feelings will surface

• Trust & mutual respect will be strengthened

• Irrational feelings will lose their power

• Feelings based in common experience are clarified and strengthened

• Collective understandings become more realistic

• Power struggles resolve and collaboration increases

• Actions emerge aimed at changing the existing situation

• Group is strong enough to withstand individual radical action

WHAT’S NOT IN THE DOMINANT DISCOURSE?

• CAUSALITY

• MEASUREMENT

• FEEDBACK LOOPS

• ADAPTIVE CAPACITY

• COMPLEX SYSTEM PERSPECTIVE

QUANTUM MIND: THE “BOTH…AND…” TRUTH

• RESONANT COUPLING

• MASSIVELY INTERCONNECTED

• MULTIPLE INTERPENETRATING FIELDS OF “ATTRACTORS OF MEANING”

• ROLE OF OBSERVER

THROUGH THE NEW LENS:LEARNING FROM THE STUDY OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS

• AUTONOMOUS AGENTS

• SIMPLE RULES; COMPLEX BEHAVIORS

• EMERGENCE

• CO-EVOLVING

• CAN NOT PREDICT BEHAVIOR OF THE WHOLE, FROM ANALYSIS OF THE PARTS

• CAUSALITY ONLY ATTRIBUTABLE RETROACTIVELY

• THE SYSTEM CAN NOT BE CONTROLLED, BUT MAY POSSIBLY BE INFLUENCED

• COHERENCE IS EMERGENT AND DYNAMIC

IMPLICATIONS OF A COMPLEXITY PERSPECTIVE

• TWO FUNDAMENTAL TYPES OF CHALLENGES (SEE RON HEIFETZ; SHARON PARKS)

• CYNEFIN FRAMEWORK (SEE SNOWDEN ET AL)

• A SIMPLER WAY

• STACEY COMPLEX RESPONSIVE PROCESSES; MATRIX

• EOYANG CONTAINERS, DIFFERENCES, EXCHANGES

• KNOWLES 3 X 3; IDENTITY, RELATIONSHIPS, WORK

CYNEFIN FRAMEWORK FOR SENSEMAKING

RALPH STACEY MATRIX CERTAINTY X AGREEMENT

DICK KNOWLES’ PROCESS ENNEAGRAM™

COMPLEXITY & OUTCOMES IN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY

SEYMOUR SARASON

• We are imperfect people in an imperfect world (pg. 361)

• We expect there will be discernible variation [in results of schooling]

• How will we know…[objective truth via defined criteria]

• Encouraging student questions (non-linear; novelty; control; predictability; assessment)

• Far from being chaotic [classrooms respecting where and what students are] pg. 364

• If we started over, would we design the same thing? (complex attractors vs. intentional design. Always… unintended consequences)

SEYMOUR SAYS…

• So CHANGE THE ASKER-ANSWERER RELATIONSHIP (pg. 367, and implications for PBE vs. EBP)

• TEACHERS, ADMINISTRATORS, AND PARENTS COOPERATIVELY PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING ACTION FOR CHANGE (PG. 368, REQUISITE DIVERSITY & VORTICITY for ADAPTIVE CAPACITY & INNOVATION)

• POWER TRANSFERS TO STUDENTS AND TEACHERS (pg. 369)

I WAS INFLUENCED BY MY STUDIES WITH ANTHROPOLOGIST TOM GLADWIN…

• “who taught me a great deal about culture and the complexities engendered by trying to change it.” – Seymour Sarason, footnote at page 374

WHAT? SO WHAT? NOW WHAT?• We must view the work of change and our practice of school psychology “through the new

lens” of complex adaptive systems

• Recognizing the true underlying dynamics of behaviors and outcomes in these highly complex and adaptive systems

• We work with others in collaborative, respectful dialogue, giving voice and consideration to competing ideas

• We STOP the “as if…”” thinking and behavior, of treating the truly complex AS IF it were technical/complicated

• We recognize there is no single best solution to complex problems

• We try “safe to fail” experiments with promising ideas, and learn from all results

• We continuously observe, reflect, learn, and adapt theory, and methods, as needed

…SEEKING “MASTERY IN THE MOMENT” LIKE SURFERS AND MARTIAL ARTISTS

EVALUATION PERSPECTIVES & METHODS

• ORIGINS OF THEORY

• OBSERVATIONS OF PROCESSES

• SENSE- AND DECISION-MAKING

• EXPECTATIONS OF STABILITY, PREDICTABILITY, AND CONTROLLABILITY

• UNDERSTANDING OF CAUSALITY

• UNDERSTANDING OF EMERGENCE

• DEFINING “EVIDENCE”

AS CITED BY MICHAEL QUINN PATTON IN“DEVELOPMENTAL EVALUATION”

• Most…professionals and organizations that I have exchanged ideas with about social change, agree that social change is a non-linear, long-term, and often unpredictable process requiring efforts at multiple levels. However, most organizations continue to frame their strategies in measurable cause—effect terms, AS IF their programs can be evaluated in isolation from other efforts, and can demonstrate effectiveness in the short term.” - Virginia Lacayo, in Lacayo, Obregon, and Singhal (2008, pg. 138) “Approaching social change as a complex problem in a world that treats it as a complicated one.” In Investigacion y Desarrollo 16(2) 138. Emphasis Added.

EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICEPRACTICE-BASED EVIDENCE

SOURCES AND RESOURCES…

• MARGARET WHEATLEY- A SIMPLER WAY; WALK OUT, WALK ON; SO FAR FROM HOME; PERSEVERANCE

• RALPH STACEY – VARIOUS, ESP. ON VIEW OF THE SELF & GROUP THERAPY

• PATRICIA SHAW – CHANGING CONVERSATIONS IN ORGANIZATIONS

• SEYMOUR SARASON – REVISITING THE CULTURE OF THE SCHOOL AND THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE

• MICHAEL FULLAN - VARIOUS

• DAVID SNOWDEN – A LEADER’S FRAMEWORK FOR CHANGE (HBR)

• RICHARD KNOWLES – THE LEADERSHIP DANCE

• GLENDA EOYANG – FACILITATING ORGANIZATION CHANGE

• BRUCE WALTUCK – COMPLEXITY & PROCESS IMPROVEMENT PRIMER

• BRUCE WALTUCK & DENISE EASTON – THE WORLD ACCORDING TO FLUX (JQP)