A well-respected mentor once told me that the most challenging decisions he has to make as a Head of School are the ones where multiple solutions seem to be good. This idea came to mind frequently as I read recently read through a part of Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber's 1973 work, Dilemma's in a General Theory of Planning. As Educators, we are frequently dealing with issues of a social nature where, because of the great diversity in human experience, solutions to problems are almost impossible to develop consensus around. It seems that every problem can be defined multiple ways and every solution to every problem is like by some people and disliked by others. Further, because solutions to problems almost invariably require systems change - where the end result and effects of a decision are often not immediate - there is inherently a degree of speculation, rather than assured outcome. Indeed, as Rittel and Webber illustrate, even defining the problems clearly in the first place is challenging. I couldn't help but laugh at the final sentence of the passage I read, which lays claim that the most wicked problem of all is that such problems themselves are, in fact, wicked.
As a science educator I can well understand the distinction the authors were trying to make between the sorts of well-defined problems dealt with by those in the 'hard' sciences and those who are trying to develop solutions to societal conditions. In science the ultimate goal is to arrive at a conclusion which can be tested and evaluated under very strict conditions by other individuals; it is a given that in doing a science experiment - or for that matter working in fields like structural engineering where one is dealing with the laws of physics rather than the social realm - there are very clear parameters in which one works, and feedback loops can be largely eliminated. In contrast, in issues of a social nature there are a nearly limitless number of variables, each interconnected, that in trying to adjust or change any, one inevitably produces changes - sometimes foreseen, but often not - in another.
Education is, indeed, filled with wicked problems.
References:
Rittel, H. W., & Webber, M. M. (1973). Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy sciences, 4(2), 155-169
As a science educator I can well understand the distinction the authors were trying to make between the sorts of well-defined problems dealt with by those in the 'hard' sciences and those who are trying to develop solutions to societal conditions. In science the ultimate goal is to arrive at a conclusion which can be tested and evaluated under very strict conditions by other individuals; it is a given that in doing a science experiment - or for that matter working in fields like structural engineering where one is dealing with the laws of physics rather than the social realm - there are very clear parameters in which one works, and feedback loops can be largely eliminated. In contrast, in issues of a social nature there are a nearly limitless number of variables, each interconnected, that in trying to adjust or change any, one inevitably produces changes - sometimes foreseen, but often not - in another.
Education is, indeed, filled with wicked problems.
References:
Rittel, H. W., & Webber, M. M. (1973). Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy sciences, 4(2), 155-169
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