Addressing Wicked Problems through Competency-Based Education: Challenges and Strategies for Sustainable Solutions

This text proposes a new paradigm for addressing wicked problems through competency-based education. It is derived from an extended reflection on environmental issues. These issues challenge not just our technologies but our universities and educational institutions, values and way of living and interaction. The wicked problems are complex societal issues such as poverty, climate change, environmental degradation, and sustainability. These problems cannot be solved in the way that ordinary problems, which are clearly defined, can be. Wicked problems are highly complex and poorly defined and quite often evolve into policy issues. Even policy issues, such as sustainable development, may lead to an apparent solution that raises further problems. Therefore, this text suggests that current approaches to addressing such wicked problems are ill-adapted.

As a result of policy failure, this chapter provides an insightful examination of the challenges and potential strategies to address “wicked problems” through competency-based education. Competency-based education is viewed as a potential solution to some of the wicked problems. It addresses wicked problems by focusing on skills and competencies that align with real-world problems. A competency-based education offers a flexible framework for developing competencies that may help learners navigate multiple problems. It offers evidence-based strategies that empower learners to take action for sustainability. The chapter explores the concept of “wicked problems” and their characteristics and the challenges they pose for the implementation of competency-based education. The first part of the chapter introduces the context of environmental issues with reference to Uganda; concepts of wicked problems; and competency-based education. The second part discusses the challenges of wicked problems in the context of competency-based education. The third part suggests possible strategies for addressing wicked problems, and the last section draws the conclusion and the way forward.