Soft Systems Methodology in Education

Dr Jenny Gilbert is currently a reviewer for the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in the UK. She has 27-years’ experience in five English universities.   From 2014 to 2018, she led the input from a UK university on a European Union, TEMPUS project at the University of Pristina: ‘Modernising Teacher Education in Kosovo’.  Her interest in Systems Thinking and Soft Systems Methodology arises from many years of teaching Information Systems, and her doctorate[1] comprised an insider research approach including the application of metaphor in the data analysis.  She has occupied diverse academic roles: Head of Department; University Teaching and Learning Coordinator; and Deputy Dean in Faculties of Science and Technology, Business, and Education.  Her publications include articles and chapters on digital literacy, work-based learning, eGoverment, and accountability in education. Dr Simon Pratt-Adams is Associate Professor in Academic Development in the Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care at Anglia Ruskin University. He is the Acting Director of the Centre for Innovation in Higher Education, a specialist academic development unit. His research, including his doctorate, has included working with diverse communities in challenging contexts, with a focus on improving learning outcomes among disadvantaged groups. He has published widely using qualitative research strategies such as ethnography, action research and case studies. His publications include co-editorship of a seven-book series on Education Studies (2010-2014) and co-author of 'Changing Urban Education’ (2011); 'Men teaching children 3-11: Challenging gender barriers’ (2015); ‘and 'Innovations in Active Learning in Higher Education' (2020).

Part I: Systems Thinking, Soft Systems Methodology and Critical Realism.- Chapter 1. Systems Thinking and Soft Systems Methodology.- Chapter 2. Critical Realism as an Underpinning Philosophy.- Chapter 3. Critical Realism in the Social Sciences.- Chapter 4. The Stepping-Stones Model and the Worldview, Metaphor and Power of Social Objects (Womposo) Strategy.- Part II: Practicum Study: Context.- Chapter 5. The Three Jurisdictions: England, New South Wales and Ontario.- Chapter 6. The Literature on Policy Borrowing, Learning, Professional Identity and the Practicum.- Chapter 7. Research Stages of the Practicum Study.- Part III: Practicum Study: Data Collection and Interpretation.- Chapter 8. The Perspectives of Pre-service Teachers.- Chapter 9. Faculty Advisors' Perspectives on Becoming a Teacher.- Chapter 10. Mentors' Expectations and Perspectives.- Chapter 11. Findings from the Practicum Study.- Part IV: Appraising the Womposo Research Strategy.- Chapter 12. Evaluating the Practicum Study and the Womposo Research Strategy.