Something Wicked This Way Comes

Currently, I am writing my dissertation for an MSc in Digital Education from the University of Edinburgh.  This post is to share the useful framework that I discovered in conversations with colleagues about complex policy problems in education. These problems are referred to as ‘wicked problems’, a nomenclature introduced by Rittel and Webber (1973) in a paper entitled,  “Dilemmas in General Theory of Planning”.

Table 1: Ten distinguishing properties of wicked problems (Rittel & Webber 1973).

Table 1 is a bit academic. Ramaley (2014) provides a succinct summary of the initial ten properties:

“Wicked problems cannot be definitively defined; they continue to change as we study them; the choice of an appropriate response or solution is never clear-cut; there is little room for trial and error; every problem is essentially unique; every problem is tangled up with other issues and may be a symptom of a larger, more complex challenge; and there isn’t much margin for error in understanding the issues and in choosing strategies for handling the problem because every choice creates new problems of its own” (p. 11-12).

Rittel and Webber (1973) state that normal or non-wicked problems are ‘tame’ problems, problems that can be easily defined and solved.

Tame Problem: I am hungry. I eat some crackers. Problem solved.

I also could have tried different solutions such as chewing gum, drinking something or eating XYZ food, all of which would not cause my problem of hunger to transform into a more difficult problem or cause the problem of hunger to connect to another problem.

Wicked Problem: Food Insecurity. A child is hungry, but has no access to any food.

With a wicked problem you soon find lurking, hidden problems that are all contributing to the larger wicked problem in question. For example, if the child has some money, they may be able to buy some ‘cheaper’ processed food. However, processed food is often high in sugar which over time would cause other health problems such as child obesity. Unhealthy children usually do not succeed in school, so there would be the additional problem as to how the student was doing educationally. And so on and so on.

In my research, I wanted to utilize eBooks in an extensive reading class to teach English to Japanese students in Japan. The first problem I encountered was the one-to-one ratio for devices and accounts that publishers/providers force via Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems and software. Therefore I could not buy and distribute the eBooks to my students via our Learning Management System(LMS) which also meant I couldn’t integrate the eBooks with our existing print library and quiz database that was also housed in our LMS. From then on, there was just problem after problem, a proverbial Gordian Knot that soon left the area of education and led me to research the aging population of Japan, library management, and a lot of copyright law.

However, using wicked problems as a framework or lens in which to examine the interconnected mess of sub problems enable me to identify some potential problems that were ‘tame’ in nature. My own experience is that categorizing all the sub problems and the connections between them, allowed me to find the solution of utilizing open domain eBooks because much of the wickedness with eBooks and extensive reading is interconnected and caused by copyright law combined with DRM. Once the Gordian Knot is cut, or the tame problem identified, then trying different solutions to a now tame problem will eventually solve the problem.

Below is another example using the open domain play of Macbeth, the origin of the title of this blog post. There are more academic examples in the list of Wicked Problems in Education at the end of this post.

The Tragedy of Macbeth

Other wise known as, casting a wicked problem as a ‘tame’ one, arbitrarily defining the now tame problem, and the repeated implementation of a one shot solution (The solution with the daggers and blood).

ACT IV. SCENE I. A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron. Thunder.

SECOND WITCH
By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.
Open, locks,
Whoever knocks.

Enter Macbeth.

MACBETH
How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags?
What is ’t you do?

ALL
A deed without a name.

One interpretation is that Macbeth is himself an anthropomorphized wicked problem and is exacerbating the larger wicked (political) problem in question by constantly implementing one-shot solutions. In other words, the repeated killing of your assumed political rivals only causes the larger wicked problem to morph, multiply sub problems, and make the wicked problem more complex. Macbeth would have been better served by finding out who the witches were, what was their relationship to the problem, and what motivated them. Ditto for all the other stakeholders in the wicked problem such as Lady Macbeth, King Duncan, Banquo and MacDuff. However, Macbeth then would not be tragic. A play with people discussing, understanding each others viewpoints, and compromising. A lot less entertaining than Shakespeare’s version. Oh well.

Also we don’t want to forget the novel by Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes who is referencing Macbeth.

Wicked Problems in Education (chronologically ordered)

Watson, D. (2000). Managing in higher education: The ‘wicked issues’. Higher education quarterly, 54(1), 5-21.

Logue, D. (2009). Moving policy forward: ‘brain drain’ as a wicked problem. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 7(1), 41-50.

Golding, B., Brown, M., Foley, A., Smith, E., Campbell, C., Schulz, C., … & Grace, L. (2009). Wicked learning: Reflecting on Learning to be drier. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 49(3), 544.

Bore, A., & Wright, N. (2009). The wicked and complex in education: Developing a transdisciplinary perspective for policy formulation, implementation and professional practice. Journal of Education for Teaching, 35(3), 241-256.

Kameniar, B. M., Imtoual, A., & Bradley, D. (2010). “Mullin’the Yarndi” and Other Wicked Problems at a Multiracial Early Childhood Education Site in Regional Australia. Educational Policy, 24(1), 9-27.

Trowler, P. (2012). Wicked issues in situating theory in close-up research. Higher Education Research & Development, 31(3), 273-284.

Krause, K. L. (2012). Addressing the wicked problem of quality in higher education: Theoretical approaches and implications. Higher Education Research & Development, 31(3), 285-297.

Southgate, E., Reynolds, R., & Howley, P. (2013). Professional experience as a wicked problem in initial teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 31, 13-22.

Jordan, M. E., Kleinsasser, R. C., & Roe, M. F. (2014). Wicked problems: Inescapable wickedity. Journal of Education for Teaching, 40(4), 415-430.

Ramaley, J. A. (2014). The changing role of higher education: Learning to deal with wicked problems. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 18(3), 7-22.