The International Journal of Complexity in Education is a refereed professional journal that presents up-to-date educational research focusing on the rapidly expanding science of complexity. The mission of the journal is to advance education theory and practice through the application of concepts and methods derived from complexity and nonlinear dynamical systems theories. IJCE takes a broad view of what these concepts entail, and they might include chaos theory, nonlinear dynamical systems theory, catastrophe theory, self-organized criticality, power laws, agent-based modeling, fractals and more. The journal is intended as a forum for constructive peer interactions among scholars working within the paradigm of complexity or take an active interest in becoming more deeply engaged in work from a complexity perspective.
This special issue will focus on the application of complex systems theories and methodologies to wicked problems in education. Wicked problems are high-stakes, transdisciplinary, dilemma-rich issues that are enmeshed with sociocultural systems and devoid of singular, permanent solutions. By nature, wicked problems manifest properties of complex dynamic systems, including predictable and unpredictable linear and nonlinear change over time, contextual sensitivity, and interdependence among constructs and processes at varying units-of-analysis. Examples of wicked problems in education may include but are not limited to issues such as: increasing educational equity and improving race relations; conducting and disseminating classroom-based intervention research; developing school leaders and teachers for the changing educational landscape; addressing the educational impacts of the evolving COVID- 19 pandemic on students, families, and teachers; and advancing educational research as a scientific discipline. Such topics exemplify the dynamic and intersecting nature of a variety of societal systems and present challenges to researchers who have historically been predisposed to conducting scholarship from within mechanistic and reductionistic paradigms.
Those interested will learn more at the full call for papers, here.