Problem Analysis

John Reynolds, Susan Achilles, Charles Achilles

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781317920892
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Bildung
• Subtopic: Bildung Allgemein

This book explores the relationship between problem analysis, leadership, decision making, and change. It contains many problem scenarios, case studies, and vignettes.

1

PROBLEM OR OPPORTUNITY?

This book has five parts. This chapter contains an introduction to and some general information about two main divisions of problem analysis: problem finding and problem solving. Chapter 2, “The Problem of the Problem,” emphasizes problem finding, and Chapter 3, “The Problem of the Solution,” discusses problem-solving processes and strategies. The terms “problem of the problem” and the “problem of the solution” are from the writings of Professor Jacob Getzels. In Chapter 4, we discuss problem analysis relative to administration and provide some examples, problem scenarios, and exploratory ideas about relationships among problem analysis, leadership, decision making, and change. Chapter 5 contains some cases and vignettes, followed by a brief annotated bibliography, references, and appendices.

Although we include examples throughout the text, the early part of the book is more expository and didactic, whereas the later sections are more descriptive. In the text, a vignette is a fairly brief problem situation. A case study provides added detail and depth for analysis. We hope that readers will consider their own possible actions and reactions to these examples. The vignettes and case studies can be a foundation for group work and discussions using ideas expressed in the text.

PROBLEM ANALYSIS IN EDUCATION

Problem analysis is included as Domain 3 of the National Policy Board on Educational Administration’s (NPBEA) book, Developing Leaders for America’s Schools (Thomson, 1993). Problem analysis is an important domain of the principal’s job, but until recently it has received little focused attention. Principals and other education administrators are different from business administrators or prison administrators in that their problem-analysis emphasis relates to education and not to economics or to corrections (although it is tempting to consider similarities). The generic definition of problem analysis that gives direction to this book is from the NPBEA (Thomson, 1993).

Problem Analysis: Identifying the important elements of a problem situation by analyzing relevant information; framing problems; identifying possible causes; seeking additional needed information; framing and reframing possible solutions; exhibiting conceptual flexibility; assisting others to form reasoned opinions about problems and issues. (p. 3–3)

This definition suggests a pattern of problem analysis that can be conceptually linear to assist a person in the study of the problem-analysis process. In reality, however, the problem-analysis process is interactive and iterative, with several activities occurring simultaneously. By branching and looping through these steps, the problem analyzer moves toward a solution to the problem as framed.

Our task is to explain problem analysis and to support that explanation with research, theory, and exemplary practice ideas. Much in this book builds upon ideas and materials that have been researched by others, often for different purposes and in different contexts than education administration. Yet, principals can use many of these ideas to strengthen their own problem-analysis skills.

The focus of this book is, happily, problem analysis and not just problem solving. This is fortuitous for several reasons. First, people give serious attention mostly to problem solving because, in their minds, a leader’s job is to rush in and solve problems, often with little regard to the consequences. The problem analysis format provides opportunities to consider “problem” in useful detail. Problem analysis and problem solving are not synonymous. Problem solving, like problem finding, is one part of problem analysis. Second, solving problems may create more problems or a different set of problems. The important distinction between problem analysis and problem solving is much at the heart of education’s problems and criticisms today, as well as in the past. We try to explain this phenomenon.

Problem finding, the creative art and skill of ferreting out and shaping the real problem, must be expertly done if problem solving is to be productive and satisfying. This distinction in no way downplays the importance of problem solving, and particularly the skill with which expert problem solvers go about the task of solving problems. Expert problem solving is an important area of study and a major component of administrator preparation programs (e.g., Leithwood and Steinbach, 1995).

Problem solving is closely aligned with the scientific method, with a strong base in logical positivism and pragmatism. An obvious problem in a carefully logical approach to problem analysis is that problems in education often seem opinion or belief driven, and even chaotic or random. But before one gets to the actual problem-solving stage, there are complex precursor events.

Attitudes, beliefs, and values play major roles in problem determination and problem solving. For example, values and their attendant perceptions greatly influence what problems are identified, what problems a person chooses to act upon, and what data someone might accept as valid and as useful in solving the problem. Successful administrators, those people who engage in both management and leadership activities, analyze and understand problems clearly so that their problem-solving results will benefit the persons with whom and for whom they work. Principals are administrators and must do both leadership and management tasks well.

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT IN PROBLEM ANALYSIS

The distinction between management and leadership is not just semantic; it is operational and important. We reject the idea that leadership and management are part of the same continuum, with the usual connotation of good or important attached to leadership and management considered as less good or less important (Murphy, Hallinger, and Mitman, 1983; Achilles, 1992). The ideas of management and of leadership carry over conceptually into two major components of problem analysis: problem finding and problem solving. Consider Figure 1.1, which illustrates the view of management and leadership as opposites on the same continuum and places competing values on each concept (see also Murphy et al., 1983). This may not be a productive way to consider these two terms.

FIGURE 1.1. VIEW OF MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP AS OPPOSITES ON THE SAME CONTINUUM

Rather than the above linear situation, we believe that a principal performs both leadership (change-oriented and disruptive) and management (keep the organization operating smoothly) activities, and that management and leadership activities can each be evaluated as important or good, and as less important or less good. We believe that there are strong similarities between (a) administration and problem analysis, (b) management and problem solving, and (c) leadership and problem finding. The expert principal gets high marks (+) for management and for leadership. These conditions are shown in Figure 1.2, which illustrates management and leadership each on its own contiuum. Being on separate continuums allows relatively value-free estimates of each (see also Murphy et al., 1983).

FIGURE 1.2. MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP EACH ON ITS OWN CONTINUUM

♦ A kindergarten child falls from a piece of equipment and breaks an arm. He does not tell the teacher or the assistant that he has hurt his arm. His mother threatens to initiate a lawsuit and to tell the media about the lack of supervision at the school. How do both management and leadership play in this situation? How would you address this?

The expert principal handles the routine, such as schedules, and also initiates changes to help the faculty reach the school’s mission, perhaps by considering a new use of time to support instruction by moving to block scheduling from the typical 6- or 7- period day. In the language of Figure 1.3, the highly successful administrator most often is rated as being in quadrant 1 (++). This person demonstrates superior leadership (problem finding) and management (problem solving) skills. Persons categorized in quadrant 2 have good management skills but fare less well in leadership ratings. Quadrant 3 includes good leaders who do not excel in management skills and detail work. Quadrant 4 presents its own sets of problems! As Figure 1.3 makes clear, the ideal state is quadrant 1.

FIGURE 1.3. MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS RATING

A good manager, while primarily concerned with expert problem-solving, may uncover glitches or problems in the ongoing processes of the school. A good leader, while primarily seeking improvement or new directions (problem finding), may establish important processes to keep the organization in what Lonsdale (1964) called “dynamic equilibrium.”

Problem-solving steps, strategies, and processes can be taught. Most principals have had training in problem solving and in its logical implementation step, decision making. Where in their education process, however, and specifically in their education administrative preparation, did they learn problem-finding skills? Does preparation in problem finding fit comfortably into the formal curriculum of schooling at any level, or is it really the practical curriculum of living? Perhaps before seeking or finding a problem, a person should have a working definition of “problem.” This very point may be one cause of fuzzy problem solving.

PROBLEM: A WORKING DEFINITION

What is meant by the idea or concept “problem”? Rather than relying on a narrow definition of a complex term, it seems useful to consider similar terms that cluster around the idea as a way to move toward a general understanding of a broad concept. Figure 1.4 provides one whimsical collection of terms and ideas that may surround the concept of “problem.” Figure 1.5 arranges some problem-analysis ideas into Getzels’ conceptualization of the problem of the problem and the problem of the solution. The distinction between “problem of the problem” and “problem of the solution” is important. Getzels said,

FIGURE 1.4. SOME TERMS AND IDEAS RELATED TO THE CONCEPT “PROBLEM” (FROM A TO W)*

* We find that combining similar ideas to convey the concept of a term is more satisfactory than trying to express a single definition. Using the collection of ideas here and others that have eluded us, a person may construct a useful working definition of the idea of “problem.” Perhaps some readers can get to the x-y-z of it.

FIGURE 1.5. ORGANIZING CONCEPTS AND IDEAS RELATED TO PROBLEM ANALYSIS (THOMSON, 1993, p. 33)

* Information search is continuous: on causes, on possible solutions, on determining the efficacy of solutions....

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• Dedication
• Acknowledgement
• Table of Contents
• 1. Problem or Opportunity?
• 2. The Problem of the Problem
• 3. The Problem of the Solution
• 4. Problem Sharing, Leadership in Decisions, and Change
• 5. Cases
• Appendix A: Reflectiveness in the Professions
• Appendix B: An Example Employing the Problem Analysis Modelin Figure 3.3
• Annotated Bibliography
• References