Rethinking the Education Mess: A Systems Approach to Education Reform

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

   PDF

2. Introduction—TEM, The Education Mess

   • Ian I. Mitroff, Lindan B. Hill, Can M. Alpaslan

   Pages 1-9

3. What Is a System and What Is a Mess?

   • Ian I. Mitroff, Lindan B. Hill, Can M. Alpaslan

   Pages 10-27

4. The Psychology and Philosophy of Inquiry, Philosophical Psychology, and Psychological Philosophy

   • Ian I. Mitroff, Lindan B. Hill, Can M. Alpaslan

   Pages 28-48

5. The Charter School Mess, A Messy Systems View

   • Ian I. Mitroff, Lindan B. Hill, Can M. Alpaslan

   Pages 49-60

6. The Charter Schools of the Future—Possible Designs

   • Ian I. Mitroff, Lindan B. Hill, Can M. Alpaslan

   Pages 61-70

7. Hiding in Plain Sight: Education Reform in Indiana

   • Ian I. Mitroff, Lindan B. Hill, Can M. Alpaslan

   Pages 71-86

8. General Heuristics for Coping with The Education Mess

   • Ian I. Mitroff, Lindan B. Hill, Can M. Alpaslan

   Pages 87-100

9. Waiting for Wilberforce—Making Sense of and Coping with the Tragic and Senseless

   • Ian I. Mitroff, Lindan B. Hill, Can M. Alpaslan

   Pages 101-135

10. Crisis Management—An Imperative For Schools

    • Ian I. Mitroff, Lindan B. Hill, Can M. Alpaslan

    Pages 136-155

11. Epilogue

    • Ian I. Mitroff, Lindan B. Hill, Can M. Alpaslan

    Pages 156-160

12. Back Matter

    Pages 161-172

    PDF

Using a form of systems thinking, this book analyzes K-12 education as a complex, "messy" system that must be tackled as a whole and provides a series of heuristics to help those involved in the education mess to improve the system as a whole.

• education
• education reform
• school

"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

• Saybrook University, San Francisco, USA

  Ian I. Mitroff

• School of Public Health, St. Louis University, USA

  Ian I. Mitroff

• USC, Los Angeles, USA

  Ian I. Mitroff

• Academy for Teaching and Learning, Marian University, USA

  Lindan B. Hill

• Marian University, Indianapolis, USA

  Lindan B. Hill

• College of Business & Economics, California State University, Northridge, USA

  Can M. Alpaslan

Author Ian I. Mitroff: Ian I. Mitroff is Senior Research Associate at the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, USA; Professor Emeritus of the University of Southern California, USA; and President of Mitroff Crisis Management. Author Lindan B. Hill: Lindan B. Hill is Assistant Vice President and Director of the Academy for Teaching and Learning Leadership, Marian University, USA. Author Can M. Alpaslan: Can M. Alpaslan is Professor in the Department of Management at California State University, Northridge, USA.

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