Tangled Narratives and Wicked Problems: A Complex Case of Positioning and Politics in a Diverse School Community

The case of Allen Elementary School presents tangled narratives and wicked problems describing the multidimensionality of school community work. Using multiple converging and diverging vignettes, the case points to the distinctiveness of individual experience in schools; the ways institutionalized organizational narratives become cultural resources for framing, scripting, and revising problems as plots; and the interdependence of micro- and macro processes. Drawing from work on organizational narratives, situated problems, and politics, the case asks students to consider (a) the improvisational character of organizational narratives authored by leaders for particular publics with particular interests, (b) the social and cultural construction of leadership, and (c) how organizational narratives and the construction of leadership play into public engagement by enlarging/diminishing scope of conflict.