My previous post was the second in a series that unpacked the scope of my Elusive Formula framework.
There, I briefly shone a light on the bottom segment - complete order.
Conversely, the top-left corner is both evocative and unsettling.
Too little control immediately raises questions about authority and boundaries.
Chaos is often used as a throwaway description - “That lesson was chaotic” - but here, I use it more deliberately.
Rooted in complexity theory, chaos refers not merely to disorder, but to a dynamic, unpredictable state where outcomes can't easily be controlled or forecast. In the classroom, it might present as unruly behaviour, emotional volatility, or an atmosphere charged with tension.
Chaos can also describe the inner turmoil of a leader floundering in the wake of their authority being ignored or dismissed.
Of course, most lessons rarely manifest at either extreme - but traces of both order and disorder can often be discerned whenever individual students merge into a collective and someone is assigned to lead.
Degrees of acceptance or resistance to adult authority are a constant presence - witnessed, and experienced, daily. In secondary schools, this dynamic can shift from lesson to lesson; in primary settings, it may evolve across the day - from morning to afternoon.
This phenomenon captures my interest.
