COMPLICATING FACTORS— DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY COEFFICIENT


Reference impact on Aurelio of various aspects of psychological environment


On the Influence of Nested Systems or “settings.”  For the social entrepreneur to make an even greater impact, we should think of the school not just as an island consisting of situational channels such as place and time, channels that can be manipulated to achieve results for the betterment of its students, but also as one component of a larger system—a tension system nested within larger and smaller tension systems.


The Notion of the Psychological Environment. Aurelio’s encounters with others in college life—whether positive or negative, whether in the vigilance or threat appraisal stages—underscore both the subjectivity and delicate balance the environments in schools and colleges.  I call it the “subjective environment.”  “Although objective structural factors obviously affect behavior, the mental and psychological processes of individuals are also critical elements…”  Garcia and Cohen call this a “psychological environment,” which they define as “the student’s perceptions of themselves and their environment.”


Indeed, it is the notion of a “psychological environment” that serves as the central organizing concept for the whole book.  A psychological environment is really a set of nested tension systems that includes the classroom, groups and the individual all under this umbrella.  First, the “classroom as a dynamic tension system in which multiple forces exist and interact” and “in which various factors, including structural factors such as classroom size and psychological factors such as student perceptions, interact to produce a stable environment that elicits a consistent set of attitudes, behaviors and outcomes over time.”  (p.?)


This is the maelstrom through which interventions play out.  It is precisely because the psychological environment is so rich and multifaceted, because there is so much energy trapped within nested systems—that enlisting multiple channels overlapping, reinforcing and looping back upon themselves (“recursiveness”)—that make these interventions so successful.   For this reason, among others, the concept of the schools and colleges as a “psychological environments” is among the most critical missing elements in school reform.


The School as a Judgmental Environment and its affects on identity formation. It is noteworthy to contextualize Aurelio’s journey—that is to place it in the powerful set of influences that school has on all young people.  It is, after all, where they spend most of their time to be sure.  But beyond that, school is an environment that, according to Garcia and Cohen, is a “charged and judgmental place where students are perpetually evaluated and judged.“   This is the environment within which Aurelio’s journey of identity engagement took place, an environment, a psychological world, a subjective world that holds within it “the student’s perceptions of themselves and their environment.”


Moreover, schools and colleges are complex environments that are made even more so by the fact that they are emotionally charged and judgmental places where students are “chronically evaluated.” From an adolescent’s point of view, it is absolutely critical for a psychological environment to be healthy and responsive, a place where each individual is taken seriously and there is an overt commitment on the part of the staff to an authentic sense of fairness and justice. This is the maelstrom within which the processes of identity formation and identity engagement are worked out through trial and error.


The Importance of Fairness and Justice in School and Its Bearing on Identity Formation. Thus, it is absolutely critical that school be healthy and responsive for each individual student.  Students know this intuitively and if injustices surface, the school will attempt in good faith to correct them.  And, a major and under-appreciated aspect of school culture is its commitment to bing a place where justice is actively pursued.   Such a commitment is to encourage students natural drive to idealism .  Give voice to idealism.  The importance of being fair.

​On the Compounding and Confounding Effects of Nested Domains”  For the social entrepreneur to make an even greater impact, we should think of the school not just as an island consisting of situational channels such as place and time, channels that can be manipulated to achieve results for the betterment of its students, but also as one component of a larger system—a tension system nested within larger and smaller tension systems.



<add a sentence or two on restorative justice and the honor committee Aurelio served when he was in high school>