Complicity: An International Journal of Complexity and Education
Not a member yet
271 research outputs found
Sort by
The Emergent Ego: Complexity and Coevolution in the Psychoanalytic Process
No full textA review of The Emergent Ego: Complexity and Coevolution in the Psychoanalytic Process, by Stanley R. Palombo, M.D., 1999. Madison, CT: International Universities Press, 365 pp. ISBN 0823616665. $65.00 USD
Inventions of Teaching: A Genealogy
No full textA review of Inventions of Teaching: A Genealogy, by Brent Davis, 2002. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, 250 pp. ISBN 0805850392. $24.50 USD
Here be dragons: Exploring Cartography in Educational Theory and Research
No full textIn the literature on complexity theory it has been noted that the increasing interdependence, non-linearity, and adaptiveness of social and other systems require forms of representation that can accommodate such complexity. In this essay I argue for examining the possibilities of cartography (mapmaking) in and of educational theory and research. Cartography offers alternative forms of representation that are better suited to capturing complexity. The performativity of cartographic representations, moreover, produces different knowledge. I present four features of educational theory, research, and practice that suggest the relevance of cartography. The first is the widespread use of narrative models of representation and interpretation. Narrative discourse typically emphasizes temporality; maps are an alternative or complementary discourse that visualize and help to examine the spatial character of educational experience. The second feature is that spatial metaphors abound in educational discourse, including the recently ubiquitous metaphor of the web or network. Cartographic discourse is well suited for representing, interpreting, and critiquing these metaphors. The third feature is the increased use of hyperlinked information in educational theory and practice. Maps are better suited to capture and to enable the questioning of the rhizomatic interconnections of hypertextual reading and writing practices than more linearly organized discourse. The fourth feature of education is that it is a social institution that plays a central role in the social positioning of subjects. When the discursive and physical mechanisms through which students and teachers are separated, categorized, ranked, and assessed are cartographically represented and analyzed, new questions can emerge about these mechanisms of power
The Paradox of Control in Organizations
No full textA review of The Paradox of Control in Organizations, by Philip J. Streatfield, 2001. London and New York: Routledge, 208 pp. ISBN 0415250323. $40.95 USD
Sustaining School Improvement
No full textComplexity theory offers new concepts such as self-organization and emergence that may assist schools to find more holistic ways to sustain reform and improvement. The article summarizes a qualitative phenomenological study that examined the experiences of the staff of one middle school in order to better understand the phenomena of self-organization and its role in sustaining school improvement. Self-organization and renewal sustain reform and improvement indirectly and are also related to emergence. Leadership supports and sustains the dynamics of self-organization, renewal, and improvement in individual and collective ways. This study suggests that processes of self-organization can help schools to sustain reform and improvement by internalizing purpose and focus
