challenged.” In sum, the participants – students, administrators, and faculty – came willingly and enthusiastically with open minds and a shared perception that they and our schools can do better in more directly addressing issues of social justice and diversity.
Frame Fluency. For us, one of the distinguishing characteristics of schools that teach public problem-solving is the importance of learning how to frame conditions, analysis, and action in ways that have the potential to impact the public good. We introduced the day with a presentation by Dean Gilliam outlining a vocabulary and structure around framing that could be applied throughout the day in the exercises and conversations (Appendix C: Excerpt of Framing Presentation). Frames were defined as “organizing principles that are socially shared and persistent over time, that work symbolically to meaningfully structure the social world.” (Reese, Gundy, and Grant, 2001). Framing is a powerful concept. It can be applied to the individual level, the organizational level, the school level, and across professional fields. Research has shown that people understand issues in terms of frames. They are mental shortcuts that help us make sense of the world. They are so pervasive in language and images, messengers and memes, attitudes and values that we are often unaware of the sorting mechanisms that are going on subconsciously in our minds. With reflection, however, frames are easily accessible and by being more aware of our own frames, by being more frame fluent, we can effectively inquire into and understand other people’s frames in ways that make it easier to move a policy agenda forward. In the modern world, people get most of their information from the media, which, over time, creates “dominant frames” that evolve into habits of thought and expectation. These habits of thought can also be understood in a three-level hierarchy. The first level consists of big ideas like justice, family, equality and opportunity. The second level consists of specific but broad issues like the environment, gay and lesbian rights, or children’s issues. The third level