EDUCATION REFORM AT THE “EDGE OF CHAOS”: CONSTRUCTING ETCH (AN EDUCATION THEORY COMPLEXITY HYBRID) FOR AN OPTIMAL LEARNING EDUCATION ENVIRONMENT by Irene Conrad B.S. (Elementary Education, Secondary Education), Millersville University, 1989 M. Ed., University of Pittsburgh, 2000 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The School of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2006 1 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION This dissertation was presented by Irene Conrad It was defended on October 4, 2006 and approved by Consuella Lewis, Assistant Professor, Department of Administrative and Policy Studies Maureen Porter, Associate Professor, Department of Administrative and Policy Studies Michael Jacobson, Associate Professor, Nanyang University, Singapore Dissertation Advisor: Alan Lesgold, Professor and Dean, School of Education ii Copyright © by Irene Conrad 2006 iii EDUCATION REFORM AT THE “EDGE OF CHAOS”: CONSTRUCTING ETCH (AN EDUCATION THEORY COMPLEXITY HYBRID) FOR AN OPTIMAL LEARNING EDUCATION ENVIRONMENT Irene Conrad, Ph. D. University of Pittsburgh, 2006 Currently, the theoretical foundation that inspires educational theory, which in turn shapes the systemic structure of institutions of learning, is based on three key interconnected, interacting underpinnings -mechanism, reductionism, and linearity. My dissertation explores this current theoretical underpinning including its fallacies and inconsistencies, and then frames an alternative educational theoretical base - a hybrid complex adaptive systems theory model for education - that more effectively meets the demands to prepare students for the 21st century. My Education Theory Complexity Hybrid (ETCH) differs by focusing on the systemic, autopoietic nature of schools, the open, fluid processes of school systems as a dissipative structure, and nonlinearity or impossibility of completely predicting the results of any specific intervention within a school system.. In addition, I show how ETCH principles, when applied by educational system leaders, permit them to facilitate an optimal learning environment for a student-centered complex adaptive system. ETCH is derived from Complexity Theory and is a coherent, valid, and verifiable systems’ framework that accurately aligns the education system with its goal as a student- centered complex adaptive system. In contrast to most dissertations in the School Leadership Program, which are empirical studies, mine explores this new theoretical orientation and illustrates the power of that orientation through a series of examples taken from my experiences iv in founding and operating the Lancaster Institute for Learning, a private state-licensed alternative high school in eastern Pennsylvania. v TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ...........................................................................................................VI LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................XIII LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................XV PREFACE............................................................................................................................... XVII 1.0 FACILITATING AN EDUCATION SYSTEM PARADIGM SHIFT.................... 1 1.1 PRESSURE FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT......................................................... 1 1.2 SUMMARY: RATIONALIZING A PARADIGM SHIFT............................. 9 2.0 DISSERTATION OBJECTIVE ............................................................................... 11 3.0 THE EDUCATION SYSTEM’S CURRENT TRADITIONAL PARADIGM..... 22 3.1 1ST RESEARCH OBJECTIVE......................................................................... 22 3.2 THE REDUCTIONISTIC, MECHANISTIC, LINEAR PARADIGM MANIFEST IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION............................................................. 31 3.2.1 Observable Mechanistic Behavior Operationalized in the Education System 31 3.2.2 Reductionistic Behavior Visible in Education System ............................... 37 3.2.3 Linear Behavior Visible in the Education System...................................... 38 3.2.4 The Resultant Effects of Reductionistic, Mechanistic, and Linear Thinking on the Field of Education.......................................................................... 39 vi 4.0 A COMPREHENSIVE ALTERNATIVE: BUILDING THE EDUCATION THEORY COMPLEXITY HYBRID (ETCH)......................................................................... 47 4.1 INTRODUCTION: INFORMATION AGE DYNAMICS PRESSURE THE EDUCATION SYSTEM FOR AN EMERGENT PARADIGM SHIFT ....................... 47 4.1.1 Three Key Processes Operating in Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS): Introduction to Pattern & Structure........................................................................ 52 4.2 THE SCIENCE OF THE LIVING AUTOPOIETIC EDUCATION SYSTEM 56 4.2.1 The Complexity Autopoietic Universalities Operationalized in Social Systems........................................................................................................................ 64 4.3 SUMMARY........................................................................................................ 76 4.4 AUTOPOIESIS AND THE CURRENT TRADITIONAL PARADIGM..... 78 4.4.1 Readiness of Hierarchical Leadership Structure Operating in the Traditional Paradigm ................................................................................................ 80 4.5 THE AUTOPOIESIS PROCESS IN AN OPTIMAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND ITS FACILITATOR................................................................. 99 4.6 GENESIS OF A COMPLEXITY HYBRID THEORY: A PARADIGM SHIFT 101 4.7 SUMMARY:..................................................................................................... 117 4.8 THE SCIENCE OF THE LIVING EDUCATION SYSTEM DISSIPATIVE STRUCTURE ................................................................................................................... 119 4.8.1 Open Dissipative Structure Systems.......................................................... 121 4.8.2 Dissipative structures are living and non-living ....................................... 123 vii 4.8.3 Universalities operational in Dissipative Structures ................................ 125 4.8.4 Equilibrium vs. Nonequilibrium (Disequilibrium) Systems.................... 129 4.8.5 Instability, Perturbations, Bifurcation & the Emergence of New Structures.................................................................................................................. 130 4.8.6 Instability, Bifurcations, &Perturbations in Living Systems .................. 131 4.8.7 Influence of History at Bifurcation ............................................................ 133 4.8.8 Linearity vs. Nonlinearity........................................................................... 135 4.8.9 Summary: Key characteristics of Dissipative Structures ........................ 137 4.9 DISSIPATIVE STRUCTURE AND THE CURRENT TRADITIONAL PARADIGM...................................................................................................................... 139 4.9.1 Closed & Open Education Systems............................................................. 141 4.9.2 Education System Interconnectedness....................................................... 141 4.9.3 Traditional leadership in the education system dissipative structure .... 143 4.10 DISSIPATIVE STRUCTURES & ETCH ..................................................... 144 4.10.1 The Facilitator as a Dissipative Structure at the Edge of Chaos ........... 145 4.10.2 Tools used by the Facilitator ..................................................................... 159 4.10.3 Summary: The ETCH Education System as a Dissipative Structure ... 160 4.11 THE SCIENCE OF THE LIVING EDUCATION SYSTEMS COGNITIVE PROCESS.......................................................................................................................... 162 4.11.1 In a nutshell: To understand living systems ........................................... 162 4.11.2 Bateson Maturana and Varela – the Santiago Theory of Cognition ..... 168 4.11.3 Reflection and Consciousness.................................................................... 175 4.11.4 Emotion ....................................................................................................... 177 viii TO SUMMARIZE: .................................................................................................. 177 4.12 COGNITION PROCESS ................................................................................ 178 4.12.1 Subsequent Effect of the Traditional Paradigm on the Education System 184 4.13 THE COGNITIVE PROCESS AND THE ETCH FACILITATOR ROLE AT THE EDGE OF CHAOS........................................................................................... 190 4.13.1 Summary: Cognition Process .................................................................... 202 5.0 THE SCIENCE OF EMERGENT STATES OF SYSTEM ORDER.................. 203 5.1 PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR......................................................................... 203 5.1.1 Left on the Continuum: Predictability ..................................................... 206 5.1.2 Cognition at the Edge of Chaos.................................................................. 211 6.0 GENESIS OF A COMPLEXITY HYBRID THEORY OPERATIONALIZED FOR EDUCATION