How would you visualize this problem solving cycle?

I started my tutor/mentor learning journey in 1973 when I began meeting each Tuesday evening after work with a 4th grade boy who lived in the Cabrini-Green neighborhood of Chicago.  Each week I asked "What will we do tonight?"

That was a simple problem that just took a little research for me to find activity ideas.

Then in 1975 I became the volunteer leader of that Tutor/Mentor program, which grew from 100 pairs of elementary school children and workplace volunteers in 1975 to 440 kids and 550 volunteers by June 1992.  That required a much higher level of creativity and problem solving.

Then, in 1993 as we formed a new program to help 7th graders through high school, I formed the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) to  help similar programs reach K-12 kids in every high poverty area of Chicago. This was the result of networking with Chicago program leaders since 1975 to find and share ideas for leading the one program I was responsible for.   

That local-global strategy is visualized below and has required a much broader level of thinking than just being a mentor, or leading a single program.

If you read my past blog articles, and newsletters in my archives, you'll see a constant learning and brainstorming process, centered on "How can I do this better?"

I've created a variety of concept maps and visualizations over the past 20 years to illustrate how the on-going cycle of solving a problem leads to more and more complexity as many related problems are discovered.

I'm showing some below:

While my goal in 1973 was to provide some extra tutoring support to the boy I was working with, I was not thinking of what it would take for him to move from 4th grade, through high school, then college, and a career. (By the way, we're still connected. He has two boys who have graduated from college!).

That thinking grew over the 1973 to 1993 period and was visualized in the 1990s with the "Mentoring Kids to Careers" graphic shown below.  However, my constant learning, has led me to understand that there are many barriers that kids and families living in areas of high poverty face, especially if they are people-of-color, or have ancestors who were slaves for many generations.

The right side of this visual shows some of these problems. I created this using cMapTools.  However, below I point to some systems thinking articles from this blog, which show other tools and a collaborative process of creating visualizations like mine.  

Open map at this link  View in this article

If we want to help kids move from school to careers is the title of this concept map. It shows a progression of thinking, which begins when an event calls attention to a problem that needs to be solved.   I show the "logic model" that guides my work and how trying to help one youth, or one program, leads to other problems that need to be solved.

This graphic includes the concept map shown above, and illustrates how thinking about a single program, and a city full of great programs, leads to thinking about many other problems facing Chicago and the world. (click to enlarge)

I majored in History in college, then served for three years in the US Army, learning to use maps and best available information to support decisions.  I've applied that thinking, and GIS maps, since 1993. 

This concept map shows a planning process, focused on filling geographic areas with needed, on-going support, that should be in place in every part of the country.  Links on the concept maps go to articles that explain the various elements shown on the map. 

What are all the things
that we need to do?

For the past 30 years I've spent time almost every day calling attention to the challenges kids living in high poverty face and the roles that organized volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs can play in helping them overcome those challenges as they move through school and into adult lives.

I point to a list of Chicago programs where people can volunteer time, talent and dollars and to a web library where anyone can learn more about the issues and ways to get involved.

Chicago Sun Times 1996

I have done this while there has been a constant flow of stories like the one at the left, showing the agony of violence in Chicago, and asking "When will this end?"  The story at the right was from the 1990s, so we still have not found an answer to that question.

I don't believe any single, short-term, action of a tutor/mentor program can make street violence stop, or make poverty suddenly disappear.  However, I do believe that the continuous on-going support of volunteers and staff in well organized programs can help kids who are part of those programs move more safely through school and into lives beyond the immediate grasps of violence that primarily affects high poverty neighborhoods.

They can also create a much larger network of adults willing to give time, talent, dollars and votes to building needed systems in every city and state.  

That's why many leaders need to be duplicating what I've been doing. 

Thanks for reading this article. I know it's a lot to think about, and the links take you deeper and deeper into my library.  Because of the time involved I keep searching for universities who will add my library and archives into an on-going learning program, that reaches below the university level, to K-12 schools, then extends beyond college, to life-long learning.

If that were happening some day you'd find web pages on university websites that share versions of my graphics, maps and concept maps, updated and improved, by student learners.   

There are literally hundreds of other articles you could read to expand your thinking on this topic.  However,  you'll want to read articles like these that show other tools for visualizing complex problems. Or like this, that focus on habits of deeper learning. 

Take this role.  Be the YOU in this graphic. Read this article about "Poverty in America" and view the learning steps that I've shared since the late 2000s.

Read and share. Do it over, and over. Create your own interpretations. Share them in your own blog or videos.

If you find sites where people are doing a good job of visualizing the problems we face along with solution paths, please share the links in the comment section or on LinkedIn, BlueSky, or other social media platforms where you can find me @tutormentorteam.  Visit this page to find links.

I've been ending my articles with a request for financial support of Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC. Click here if you'd like to help.