Beyond the Untucked Shirt: Embracing Complexity in Education

When I think back to when I was still teaching, one image always stands out: the untucked shirts. It’s a small detail, but it’s symbolic of the larger issue – the constant tension between order and the unpredictable nature of human behaviour.

We often try to impose control, but the reality is, controlling change in a school system is a near-impossible task. I remember the uniform rules as a constant source of tension. “Tuck your shirt in!” I would remind students. But when you take a step back, what was this really about? It’s a small performance, yet it tells you so much about the relationships between students and teachers, authority and compliance. Daniel P. Olexa, MCC, CIHt mentioned in his conversation with Lyssa deHart, LICSW, MCC, BCC the concept of ‘malicious compliance’ – doing something just because you have to, but with the lowest possible level of engagement. These small acts, like untucked shirts, reveal much about how we function as a system, yet they don’t address the deeper issues.

Drawing on Ralph D. Stacey’s Complexity Framework, we can compare a school to a weather system: dynamic, interconnected, and unpredictable. No matter how hard we try, we can’t fully control change, though we can certainly influence it. Schools, like weather systems, are complex networks where every part influences the others, often in ways we can’t anticipate. The challenge, then, is to embrace the unpredictability rather than resist it.

Dr Paul Lawrence spoke in one of his masterclasses about the gravitational pull towards simple solutions. When we feel out of control, we long to impose simple answers. But in complex systems, simplicity often misses the mark. I remember once thinking that if we just got the uniform right, everything would fall into place. But time and again, I found this approach inadequate.

In schools, we are not just controlling simple behaviours; we are part of an intricate system of relationships, with each piece influencing the other. The stories we tell ourselves about what should or shouldn’t be happening shape the way we engage with the system. If we recognise that each of us is part of the story, rather than just a passive player, we might start to rethink how we engage with seemingly simple issues like untucked shirts. Maybe it’s time to shift the narrative – from controlling the small things to embracing the complexity of the whole system.

By accepting that we can’t control every outcome, but can influence the direction through meaningful conversations, perhaps we can create a culture that thrives in uncertainty, rather than trying to fight it.

What do we really want to teach our children? What do we need them to learn? Just as I’m finishing this post, I’m reminded of ‘Play It Safe’ by Tim Minchin – as so often, he has a suggestion. Maybe we all should see the world a little bit more like Tim.