1. Bruce Waltuck
M.A., Complexity, Chaos, and Creativity
President/Owner: Freethinc. . . For a Change
www.freethinc.com
THROUGH THE NEW LENS
COMPLEXITY AND THE PRACTICE OF
SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY

2. WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES YOU FACE?

3. WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPAL RESPONSES YOU USE?

4. HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO
IN A GIVEN SITUATION?
• BEST GUESS?
• IF IT WORKED, WAS IT “RIGHT”
OR OPTIMAL? (Barrry B on
parenting)
• “EVIDENCE-BASED”
PRACTICES IN BEHAVIORAL
HEALTH

5. DOMINANT DISCOURSE &
THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY

6. HOW DID WE GET HERE?
• LETTING THE DAYS GO
BY?
• IDEAS
• BELIEFS
• BEHAVIOR/ACTION
• ANALYSIS/LEARRNING

7. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DOMINANT DISCOURSE,
HISTORY, AND PRACTICE OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY
• What are the fundamental questions psychology seeks to
answer? How have theories evolved? (theory, test, results,
learn, keep/discard)
• What are the fundamental assumptions that drive K-12 school
and teaching design?
• Are there “limiting beliefs” in the domains of “known knowns”
and “known unknowns” that we should seek to change in
ourselves and others?

8. AND…
• What is the biggest challenge you face in your work?
• What is the one thing you wish you knew. Or could to, to
improve outcomes in your work?
• When an intervention worked, how do you know why it worked?
When an intervention doesn’t work as planned or intended, how
do you know what happened? What are the factors that
determine whether something will work or not?
• What is the significance of community in educational outcomes,
and how do our ideas about human behavior affect our view of
schools in community?

9. DOMINANT IDEAS IN THE DOMINANT PARADIGM
• HIERARCHY
• ORGANIZATION AS MACHINE (SEE GARETH MORGAN)
• SOCIETAL NEEDS AND INTENTIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL
OUTCOMES (DIFFERENTIATION OF LABOR; ECONOMIC
OPPORTUNITY; WEALTH CREATION; EUDAIMONIA. SEE
ADAM SMITH; DAVID KORTEN; UMAIR HAQUE)

10. THE BIG APPLE,
OR… MISTER NEWTON EXPLAINS IT ALL

11. THE EMERGENCE OF IDEAS:
CARL ROGERS AND FACILITATION
• Genuinely free of desire to impose ready-made truths
or control the outcome (See Dale Hunt, “The Art of
Facilitation” pg. 27)
• Help people engage in genuine dialogue
• Respectful hearing of all attitudes and feelings
• Members of a group permitted to choose, collectively
and individually, their own processes, and work towards
their own goals

12. SO THAT…
• Long suppressed feelings will surface
• Trust & mutual respect will be strengthened
• Irrational feelings will lose their power
• Feelings based in common experience are clarified and
strengthened
• Collective understandings become more realistic
• Power struggles resolve and collaboration increases
• Actions emerge aimed at changing the existing situation
• Group is strong enough to withstand individual radical action

13. WHAT’S NOT IN THE DOMINANT DISCOURSE?
• CAUSALITY
• MEASUREMENT
• FEEDBACK LOOPS
• ADAPTIVE CAPACITY
• COMPLEX SYSTEM
PERSPECTIVE

14. QUANTUM MIND: THE “BOTH…AND…” TRUTH
• RESONANT COUPLING
• MASSIVELY INTERCONNECTED
• MULTIPLE INTERPENETRATING
FIELDS OF “ATTRACTORS OF
MEANING”
• ROLE OF OBSERVER

15. THROUGH THE NEW LENS:
LEARNING FROM THE STUDY OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS
• AUTONOMOUS AGENTS
• SIMPLE RULES; COMPLEX BEHAVIORS
• EMERGENCE
• CO-EVOLVING
• CAN NOT PREDICT BEHAVIOR OF THE WHOLE, FROM ANALYSIS
OF THE PARTS
• CAUSALITY ONLY ATTRIBUTABLE RETROACTIVELY
• THE SYSTEM CAN NOT BE CONTROLLED, BUT MAY POSSIBLY BE
INFLUENCED
• COHERENCE IS EMERGENT AND DYNAMIC

16. IMPLICATIONS OF A COMPLEXITY PERSPECTIVE
• TWO FUNDAMENTAL TYPES OF CHALLENGES (SEE RON HEIFETZ;
SHARON PARKS)
• CYNEFIN FRAMEWORK (SEE SNOWDEN ET AL)
• A SIMPLER WAY
• STACEY COMPLEX RESPONSIVE PROCESSES; MATRIX
• EOYANG CONTAINERS, DIFFERENCES, EXCHANGES
• KNOWLES 3 X 3; IDENTITY, RELATIONSHIPS, WORK

17. CYNEFIN FRAMEWORK FOR SENSEMAKING

18. RALPH STACEY MATRIX CERTAINTY X AGREEMENT

19. DICK KNOWLES’ PROCESS ENNEAGRAM™

20. COMPLEXITY & OUTCOMES IN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY

21. SEYMOUR SARASON
• We are imperfect people in an imperfect world (pg. 361)
• We expect there will be discernible variation [in results of schooling]
• How will we know…[objective truth via defined criteria]
• Encouraging student questions (non-linear; novelty; control; predictability;
assessment)
• Far from being chaotic [classrooms respecting where and what students are]
pg. 364
• If we started over, would we design the same thing? (complex attractors vs.
intentional design. Always… unintended consequences)

22. SEYMOUR SAYS…
• So CHANGE THE ASKER-ANSWERER
RELATIONSHIP (pg. 367, and
implications for PBE vs. EBP)
• TEACHERS, ADMINISTRATORS, AND
PARENTS COOPERATIVELY
PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING
ACTION FOR CHANGE (PG. 368,
REQUISITE DIVERSITY & VORTICITY
for ADAPTIVE CAPACITY &
INNOVATION)
• POWER TRANSFERS TO STUDENTS
AND TEACHERS (pg. 369)

23. I WAS INFLUENCED BY MY STUDIES WITH
ANTHROPOLOGIST TOM GLADWIN…
• “who taught me a great deal about culture and
the complexities engendered by trying to change
it.” – Seymour Sarason, footnote at page 374

24. WHAT? SO WHAT? NOW WHAT?
• We must view the work of change and our practice of school psychology “through the new
lens” of complex adaptive systems
• Recognizing the true underlying dynamics of behaviors and outcomes in these highly
complex and adaptive systems
• We work with others in collaborative, respectful dialogue, giving voice and consideration
to competing ideas
• We STOP the “as if…”” thinking and behavior, of treating the truly complex AS IF it were
technical/complicated
• We recognize there is no single best solution to complex problems
• We try “safe to fail” experiments with promising ideas, and learn from all results
• We continuously observe, reflect, learn, and adapt theory, and methods, as needed

25. …SEEKING “MASTERY IN THE MOMENT”
LIKE SURFERS AND MARTIAL ARTISTS

26. EVALUATION PERSPECTIVES & METHODS
• ORIGINS OF THEORY
• OBSERVATIONS OF PROCESSES
• SENSE- AND DECISION-MAKING
• EXPECTATIONS OF STABILITY, PREDICTABILITY, AND
CONTROLLABILITY
• UNDERSTANDING OF CAUSALITY
• UNDERSTANDING OF EMERGENCE
• DEFINING “EVIDENCE”

27. AS CITED BY MICHAEL QUINN PATTON IN
“DEVELOPMENTAL EVALUATION”
• Most…professionals and organizations that I have exchanged
ideas with about social change, agree that social change is a
non-linear, long-term, and often unpredictable process requiring
efforts at multiple levels. However, most organizations continue
to frame their strategies in measurable cause—effect terms, AS
IF their programs can be evaluated in isolation from other
efforts, and can demonstrate effectiveness in the short term.” -
Virginia Lacayo, in Lacayo, Obregon, and Singhal (2008, pg. 138)
“Approaching social change as a complex problem in a world that treats it as
a complicated one.” In Investigacion y Desarrollo 16(2) 138. Emphasis
Added.

28. EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE
PRACTICE-BASED EVIDENCE

30. SOURCES AND RESOURCES…
• MARGARET WHEATLEY- A SIMPLER WAY; WALK OUT, WALK ON; SO FAR FROM
HOME; PERSEVERANCE
• RALPH STACEY – VARIOUS, ESP. ON VIEW OF THE SELF & GROUP THERAPY
• PATRICIA SHAW – CHANGING CONVERSATIONS IN ORGANIZATIONS
• SEYMOUR SARASON – REVISITING THE CULTURE OF THE SCHOOL AND THE
CHALLENGE OF CHANGE
• MICHAEL FULLAN - VARIOUS
• DAVID SNOWDEN – A LEADER’S FRAMEWORK FOR CHANGE (HBR)
• RICHARD KNOWLES – THE LEADERSHIP DANCE
• GLENDA EOYANG – FACILITATING ORGANIZATION CHANGE
• BRUCE WALTUCK – COMPLEXITY & PROCESS IMPROVEMENT PRIMER
• BRUCE WALTUCK & DENISE EASTON – THE WORLD ACCORDING TO FLUX
(JQP)