Deming

Teaching is part of a System (part 1)

Jim Laughton

Jim Laughton

— 2 min read
Teaching is part of a System (part 1)
Photo by Martin Adams / Unsplash

Dr. W. Edwards Deming spent many years developing his thinking, ultimately compiling it under the moniker of the System of Profound Knowledge (SOPK). The four elements comprising his SOPK are:

  • Appreciation for a system
  • Understanding variation
  • Theory of Knowledge
  • Psychology of change

Deming’s SOPK can be applied to many areas, but let’s see how it applies to teaching in a school? I will start by focussing on appreciation of a system.

A school, its teachers and students, are part of a system. This system reaches beyond the school, to include parents. It goes further, to include anything that is associated with all the parts, even, say, nutrition.

We often fail to appreciate the extent of such systems, the relationship of so many parts and their interactions. An issue in one part affects another, but it might not be obvious if we look too narrowly.

For example, poor nutrition might lead to tiredness, lead to poor school performance (and that can be student or teacher). Nutrition is affected by many other factors, and we don’t necessarily consider the wider system, tracing root causes from the symptoms. What might be causing nutrition issues? Do we stop to think beyond our ‘microsystem’ and understand its place in the wider system?

When assessing somebody's performance, capability, let’s look beyond what we first see and think, search for factors in the wider system.

SOPK is also a system, it’s parts inter-dependent, so look beyond each individual component to see how they are all contributing. We professionals could see much more behind problems if we open our eyes to appreciate the system within which we exist. This would honour those we try to help.

We are all teachers, we are all students, we are all learning!

Whilst I am writing about SOPK as applied to teaching (mostly in schools), none of this is limited to education. However, yet not however, a book I can recommend about applying Dr Deming's SOPK to education is John Dues' book. The however not is that John's book is excellent to learn about SOPK applied in education, whilst equally useful to those of us not in formal education environments.

Dues JA. Win-Win: W. Edwards Deming, the System of Profound Knowledge, and the Science of Improving Schools. Sterling, VA: Myers Education Press; 2023.

Buy Win-Win on Amazon UK or Amazon US (Affiliate link - thank you for your support).

Introduction to short series on Teaching through the lens of System of Profound Knowledge - click here

Teaching is part of a System (Part 2): Knowledge of variation - click here

Teaching is part of a System (Part 3): Theory of knowledge - click here

Teaching is part of a System (Part 4): Psychology - click here

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