Problems of Practice and Practicing Problems: Examining Problem Work in Educational Improvement

Educational improvement approaches prioritize solving problems to improve educational systems. However, scholarship often constrains problems to the initiation of improvement efforts. This study examined problem work to understand how ongoing production of and engagement with problems enables problem solving in educational improvement. Drawing on process views of problems and temporality, I analyzed 94 stories from 13 data conversations in a teacher-preparation networked improvement community. I found that problem work that enabled robust problem solving often required orientations to future possibilities that reframe past actions and evaluate present conditions. However, future-oriented problem work was rare, emerging when educators experienced significant dissatisfaction and had historical familiarity with data. This study offers practical insights for generating productive problem solving in educational improvement.