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This book uses a form of systems thinking to provide a new vision and tools to all those working to improve schools, implement reforms, and keep them safe from violence. It analyzes K-12 education as a complex, "messy" system, which must be understood and tackled as a whole rather than as a collection of problems that can each be studied in isolation. No single factor by itself (such as great teachers, adequate parenting, or good living conditions) is sufficient to lower the achievement gap, even though each of the factors is necessary. Employing Jungian typology to clarify to different stakeholders (teachers, principals, parents) how to understand each other's goals and methods, Mitroff, Alpaslan, and Hill provide not only a case for rethinking how education reform is carried out, but a series of heuristics to help those involved in the education mess to improve the system as a whole.
List of contents
1. Introduction: The Education Mess 2. What Is a System and What Is a Mess? 3. The Psychology and Philosophy of Inquiry, Philosophical Psychology, and Psychological Philosophy 4. The Charter School Mess, A Messy Systems View 5. The Charter Schools of the Future - Possible Designs 6. Hiding in Plain Sight: Education Reform in Indiana 7. General Heuristics for Coping with The Education Mess 8. Waiting for Wilberforce - Making Sense of and Coping with the Tragic and Senseless 9. Crisis Management As An Imperative For Schools Epilogue
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"Rethinking the Education Mess brings a much-needed fresh look at the problems of education in the United States today and offers a hopeful outlook for those who take up the systems-based understanding that it conveys. It should be read by parents, educators, administrators, and public policy makers for its wisdom and insights." - Sandra Waddock, Galligan Chair of Strategy, Carroll School of Management, Boston College, USA
"Ian Mitroff and colleagues have proven themselves masters at understanding and explaining complex causal webs that can only be understood in their entirety, and then rethinking them. In this thoughtful book he applies his mastery to education - one of the most complex, especially in need of being rethought." - Robert Reich, Professor, University of California, Berkeley, USA, and former US Secretary of Labor
