Why Simplicity Wins in Education (And Everywhere Else)

A teacher stands in front of their students in a classroom. She is about to present material she has poured lots of time and effort into. She has her PowerPoint remote in hand, thinking, "Is any of this getting through?"

This scenario plays out in real-time, down the hall, in another building, district, county, or state. The same thought is showing up there, too. Do not adjust your dial or throw up your hands. Educators do not lack dedication, passion, or training. What has happened is that complexity has crept in and taken clarity out of the picture.

The Countdown has begun. Preparations are underway in classrooms for winding things down and closing up shop for the summer. Simultaneously, the final weeks of school are a blur of frenzied efforts to cram, turn in assignments, and exhort the disengaged. Exhausted teachers and squirmy students are plodding to the finish line. One more decree or mandate would send them over the edge.

Here is where we can pause and see if we can give simplicity a seat at the educational table. By this, I mean taking a serious and compassionate look at moving toward providing educators and learners with moments of clarity and practices that work for everyone.

Complexity has been slowly strangling the creativity we want for ourselves and those we serve. Here at Evolving Solutions, we have been working for years to provide tools that cut through the noise of the data deluge. Having been in the trenches, we have experienced the freedom of offering simple tools that give people the power to focus and move toward what matters to them, even when the ship is going down or the system feels broken.

As things wind down and you can do some necessary decompressing, I invite you to consider something that may seem radical but is a shift that can make a difference.

What if it doesn't have to be this way? What if there were a way to approach living and learning that feels less like working in an emergency room and more like an opportunity for coming together to achieve common goals?

We propose that learning to develop and use psychological flexibility and safety in schools and organizational communities gives everyone simple, repeatable tools to manage chaos and discouragement, take what works, and use it to discover how to thrive and move forward.

This is the beginning of my Simplicity with Flexibility and Safety series. It offers those seeking alternatives to the status quo a path to making mental health and social-emotional learning a reality.

If it isn't simple and sustainable, it won't work. Take what you think works for you, and let go of what doesn't. Stay tuned.

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