Problem-Solving Education Across Disciplines
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Educating a Generation Capable of Solving Complex Problems A constellation of forces is significantly shaping the world: technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate, ecological fragility has become a reality, social diversity has grown more complex, and the gap between developed and developing nations has increased. Consequently, the central education question is not simply what knowledge students should learn, but what sort of human beings these systems of learning are able to produce. Can education raise a person who not only has information but also the adaptive intelligence, moral courage and collaborative mind to solve the intractable issues of their communities and nation? This book, titled Problem-Solving Education Across Disciplines (PSEAD), is a significant and timely answer to this question. What makes this collection unique is that it does not restrict problem-solving to a specific technical ability or only to STEM fields. Instead, the contributions/contributors are oriented towards problem-solving as an all-encompassing educational philosophy and practice that needs to be developed throughout the humanities, the social sciences, religious and moral education, indigenous knowledge systems, counselling psychology, leadership formation, and the new fields of artificial intelligence and digital culture. The outcome is a truly interdisciplinary piece that doesn't water down the depth of any discipline nor abandon specialisation for specialisation's sake. The structure of the volume is informative. It comprises thirty chapters, numbered PSEAD 001 to PSEAD 031 and gathered into eight sections. In Section A, the conceptual and philosophical underpinning is provided, which posits that the paradigm of education needs to be re-oriented towards life building and the problem solving of the nation, to include digital intelligence and the deeper kind of wisdom. Counselling psychology and economic thinking are not peripheral supports but rather integral resources to develop adaptive thinking and psychological resilience, as well as an ability to deal with complexity. Assessment is being viewed correctly as a powerful lever: if there aren't reliable means of measuring problem-solving skills, reform is mostly rhetoric. Section B spans the ground from foundations to the enterprise of curriculum, pedagogy and institutional reform. One thing that is clear in all of the contributions is the need for the link between theory and practice, as seen in STEM and STEAM education, Six Sigma quality frameworks, policy and university repositioning, transformational leadership, and the evaluation of skills that are needed for post graduate counselling. The emphasis on culturally responsive and inclusive pedagogies is significant particularly in Nigeria's secondary schools because it is a growing realisation that problem-solving education could not be successfully imbued into schools without adapting it in the school environment and making it relevant to the local context. Sections C and D explore the language and literacy, experiential learning, technology, and research ethics discussion of this topic. The study of anomalies of grapheme/phoneme in a second language class, ethnographic study of African oral literature, and literature evangelism as a model of problem-solving education contribute to the understanding of the role of language and lived experience in cognitive and moral development. At the same time, the chapters, which focus on the demands of the workplace in office and information management, on maintaining research integrity, on digital tools for Christian ministry, or on AI-powered ‘climate-smart agriculture,' present one of the biggest challenges of our times: how to use powerful new technologies without losing our intellectual originality, our discernment of right and wrong, and our sense of human agency. Important is the attention devoted to indigenous knowledge systems, environmental justice, social inclusion and community challenges throughout Sections E and F. The volume reclaims African Traditional Religion as a method of indigenous problem-solving education, presents an indigenous knowledge system for climate justice, and analyses the concept of regional integration, as defined by ECOWAS, while also considering complex issues like the Boko Haram insurgency and the need for durable solutions that are co-created with communities. Further, two additional parallel chapters on technology-facilitated gender-based violence and comparative religious & civic education for problem-solving, and developmentally responsive parenting education reinforce the connection between problem-solving and questions of justice, inclusion, and intergenerational formation. The last significant chapters (G and H) bring the reader back to the personal and spiritual aspects of leadership and education. The chapters on self-leadership in church settings in crisis, strategic planning using insights from the creation story in Genesis, problem-solving models in Christian education that are found in the Bible, and the theological examination of Holy Communion as a sacrament and a social practice remind us that Christian education is never just a technical endeavor. At its core, always, it is a character, purpose and community formation. The title of the Epilogue, “From Knowledge to Wisdom: Educating People Who Can Solve”, perfectly expresses the entire project. This volume has several features for which special praise is merited. First, its African orientation which is not parochial. Most of the empirical and contextual is located in Nigeria and Africa, but the theoretical and practical implications stretch far. Second is the incorporation of faith and reason. The contributors are constantly mindful of religious education and Christian theology not as private or residual areas but as resources for public problem solving. Third is the regular change from the diagnosis to a constructive proposal. Each chapter not only lists problems; it also provides frameworks, pedagogies, policy directions, and community strategies which can be tested, adapted, and improved. The educational system around the globe is facing a challenge to prove relevance, and it is now that this book has come. Societies are increasingly plagued by the hard facts that their graduates can analyse but cannot act, critique but cannot create, specialise but cannot synthesise. PSEAD invites educators, policymakers, church leaders, parents, and researchers to enter into a more ambitious vision: to produce people who can identify complex problems, develop locally relevant solutions, work across diversity, be faithful in a time of uncertainty. I unreservedly recommend this book to all who are interested in future of education in Africa and in the world. May it stimulate critical thinking, innovative learning, and above all, culminate into a generation of learners and leaders who finds out about knowledge, wisdom and become capable of participating in long term collaborative efforts to solve actual problems. Omo Aregbeyen, PhD, MNES. Prof. of Public Finance & Public Policy Department of Economics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
Institution: Lead City University
Language: English
Subfield: Applied Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225401060
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: