31 May Multiple Perspectives and Wicked School Lunch Systems
Review what happened in the case Why did the lunch lady succeed where others failed? What the lunch lady applying some of the Influence model principles? What else might we learn about engaging with wicked problems from the lunch lady?
Prompts for Week 4:
Multiple Perspectives and Wicked School Lunch Systems
For week 4 we continue exploring the school lunch system through the lenses of systems thinking, multiple perspectives, ethical complexity, and inclusion. Using the Lunch Lady case, Meadows’ systems thinking concepts, De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats, and this week’s readings on school meal reform and equity, we will examine how wicked problems are shaped by systems relationships, lived experiences, and competing stakeholder realities.
In your Quad DB, or DB post, consider the following:
1. Apply at least four of De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats to the school lunch system. How might different stakeholders interpret the issue differently depending on the lens being used?
2. Drawing from Meadows’ systems thinking concepts, identify at least two systems dynamics, feedback loops, or unintended consequences connected to school meal systems. How do changes in one part of the system influence other parts of the system over time?
3. Reflect on the ethical and inclusionary dimensions of the school lunch system. How do issues such as poverty, stigma, food insecurity, race, socioeconomic inequality, disability access, or cultural identity shape the way students and families experience the system?
4. Consider the idea that systems designed to help people can also unintentionally create barriers or harm. What examples of this do you see within school meal systems?
5. Finally, reflect on leadership within wicked systems. What makes leadership difficult when systems involve competing realities, institutional constraints, and ethical tensions?
As you engage with classmates, focus on exploring complexity, systems relationships, and multiple perspectives rather than persuading others toward one “correct” solution.
