The Knot - Part 1
This is a two-part article based on a wonderful conversation with Dr. Christine Looser.
Dr. Christine Looser is a behavioral scientist at Minerva University. She has spent her professional life teaching & studying active learning, social connections, perception, and business.
Christine moved from heading the Business College at Minerva University to working with other educational institutions to transform their learning programs
Minerva University was founded to reinvent the university experience and nurture critical thinking for a complex world. Minerva Project now partners with other universities to help them innovate.
When we discussed the design and shape of the U.S. education system, Christine reflected on complex systems. Clarity of purpose within a complex system ensures designing for intended outcomes.
We considered the visualization of a knot.
Everyone can state the importance of education. However, it’s unclear what the purpose of the education system is. Some would say the purpose is to build a better society for all, some would say to build a better life for an individual.
Therein lies the tension of the American public education system: communal vs. individual.
The center of the knot holds the bureaucratic processes, the red tape, and politics that are deeply emotional and controversial. It’s here where public schools exist.
The center cannot be untangled from within, as the tension between individual and communal keeps the string taut.
The closer to the edge of this knot, the more freedom to loosen pieces, the more leverage gained. Innovation in education is a process (compared to an outcome, read more here) that happens when you find an edge, a point of leverage, and pull.
You can move that part of the string and observe the surroundings. What tightens, what shifts, where another point of leverage might be. This creates movement.
Small movements can have a great effect. After all, it’s all connected.
Movement
Movement in this knot is the exchange of people and ideas. The goal is to untangle the knot bit by bit, so there are better learning experiences and outcomes for students. New technology tools have emerged as leverage points where entrepreneurs work with teachers to untangle.
EdTech tools have become so popular, that in 2022-23 school districts had access to over 2,500 EdTech tools and teachers used 42 different tools throughout the year.
With ambiguous purpose comes ambiguous design, so we create many options of tools in hopes that something will be a silver bullet.
It presents an interesting dilemma between too much and too little. There isn’t one tool that will work for all classrooms at all times. So, it’s better to have infinite tools than not having anything, right?
Maybe.
On one hand, we live in a world where infinite choice is assumed. If we have infinite choices, we can find exactly the right thing to help.
After all, all teachers and administrators want to do is the not-wrong thing.
If we can create the exact right thing, we’re that much closer to untangling the knot and maybe saving the world.
On the other hand, the decision fatigue is real.
Educators already make upwards of 1,200 decisions a day. To have 42 options of tools adds to the already present feeling of being overwhelmed. (Christine mentions here that the ideal number of options is 7).
She discusses the Jam study. People are happier with their purchases when they have fewer options. Having fewer options can produce more satisfaction with our actions.
This is a call for empathy, community, and hope.
EdTech entrepreneurs need to lead with empathy for those who are doing the work and listen carefully to needs.
Communities at schools can come together to prioritize best practices, leveraging each other’s wisdom and experiences to reduce individual loads.
Educators, make it known what you need, what you love, what keeps you going. Talk to people who inspire you, use tools that make the day-to-day easier, and know that you’re making an impact.
Small movements, exchanges, and actions can have a great effect.
When paths forward are unclear and tangled, we rely on others to help us move forward. We keep investigating, wondering, dreaming, building. We keep tugging at the edges to try again.
In Part 2, I’ll explore how Christine and Minerva University are reimagining what learning purpose and design are.
Love this piece! 'This is a call for empathy, community, and hope' is too good!