A Quest for Certainty in the Face of Uncertainty: Dewey, Chaos, and Explaining the Unexplainable

• In Event: 18.072 - Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: 18.072-12 - Teaching, Learning, and Educational Leadership From a Complexity Perspective

Abstract

This paper considers a theoretical perspective that advocates a generative understanding of the complexities involved in educational and social science research through the exploration of Dewey, complexity, and chaos. Key concepts in complexity theory such as bounded infinity, fractals, and open systems help explicate Deweyian understandings of the precarious and stable, the relationship between individual and society, and ends in view. Chaos theory offers an understanding of natural phenomena in a way that appreciates the infinite complexities of the world and the seeming contradictions discussed by Dewey. Providing such a lens recognizes the limitations of rationalist thinking in responding to endemic challenges in educational spaces. A more nuanced framework offers transformative possibilities.

Author

• Serina A. Cinnamon, University of North Carolina at Pembroke