Complex problems and GERM theory

Oh, I've got it bad.  An urgent need to cry out or pen a bad post.  And a longing to hear his voice or at least purchase his book.  He has a lovely, self-deprecating sense of humour and he seems very courageous to be taking on the American establishment. And did I tell you he has a cute way with words and a lovely accent?  It must be love!

Let me step back.  After 18 years hanging around schools and educational conferences, I've seen many pretty boys with all the latest fads come and go.  These consultants make a good living off the education industry and some even strike it rich.

Some of us call it the flavour-of-the-month.  Why is it that education is so rife with consultants?

Until now, I had thought about this problem with a psychological framework in mind.  Allow me to explain.  Educating a child is neither a purely artistic nor a wholly scientific endeavour.  There is a chart on page 9 of the book Getting to Maybe by Frances Westley, Brenda Zimmerman and Michael Quinn Patton that defines the concept of a complex problem nicely by juxtaposing it to definitions of simple and complicated problems.

The problem of baking a cake is simple, well sort of.  Without any special training, many people can follow a good recipe et voilà, a nice cake is the result.  It's straightforward and fairly simple ... except if the kids are jumping around the kitchen or the oven temperature is off but those are different issues.

Then there are complicated problems like getting a man to the moon. With these types of complicated problems, expertise and rigourous protocols are needed but a solution can usually be found with sufficient time and resources.  Which brings me to that old feminist query -- if we can put one man on the moon, why can't we put them all there?  But I digress.

Then there are problems that are complex like raising a child or harder still, educating children.  With this type of problem, the solution changes from child to child.  Even with one child only, what works one day may not work the next.  Science sometimes gives us answers but often it doesn't and an innate art of understanding children can frequently produce a better outcome ... underlining once again the importance of good teachers.

The point is that complex problems do not have straightforward answers and often there are no answers of any kind.  Hence the need for pedagogical consultants.  Someone, usually a man, who comes in, holds your hand, and suggests something new that looks plausible or at least possible for some children. Best yet with a consultant on hand, if there isn't a resolution to your problem, there's someone else to blame.

Few educators, truthfully few people, can accept that the best that can be done when facing a complex problem is to manage the situation to allow a solution to evolve over the fullness of time.  You know, like raising a teenager.  The solution can emerge naturally.

This approach to problem solving takes patience, something we're not particularly good at.  Okay, I'll admit it --  something I'm not good at.  But the object of my devotion seems to have it.  Oh and did I say that he's not macho and seems to have no desire to be number one?

This lovely man, who dares to voice the truth, talks about a GERM that is infecting western educational jurisdictions: the mania for continuous educational reform.  It's carried by politicians anxious to be number one ... but I'll let him tell his own story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdgS--9Zg_0&feature=youtu.be.  

So can anyone tell me where I can find Dr. Pasi Sahlberg's book?

There I go with another posting.  I really have to take a break now to do some other work. But sometime soon, I'd like to explore an issue raised by Dr. Sahlberg -- the difference between accountability and responsibility.