Teaching Wicked Problems in Higher Education: Ways of Thinking and Practising

This paper reports on teachers' perspectives on preparing students for working with 'wicked' problems (Rittel and Webber [1973]. 'Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning.' "Policy Sciences" 4 (2): 155-169.). These problems are complex, lack clear boundaries, and attempts to solve them -- generally by bringing together multiple stakeholders with contrasting viewpoints -- have unforeseen consequences. Examples include many of the most significant current global challenges. We conducted semi-structured interviews with twenty teachers who focused on wicked problems, and a comparison group of 15 . We used the theoretical lenses 'ways of thinking and practising in the subject area' (Anderson and Hounsell [2007]. 'Knowledge Practices: 'Doing the Subject' in Undergraduate Courses.' "The Curriculum Journal" 18 (4): 463-478. ) and 'figured worlds' (Holland et al. [1998]. "Identity and Agency in Cultural Worlds." Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.) to frame our analysis. Our findings elaborate four key aspects of learning for wicked problems.