Subject: System Dynamics Rapport

Posted by Steve Kipp on 12/1/2004
In Reply To:System Dynamics Rapport Posted by Christian Abarca on 11/30/2004

Message:

Maybe we have finally arrived at the paradox, a good sign we are getting
somewhere: As Scott so eloquently expressed, we are most definitely swimming against the currents of society. Yet I think Christian is also
correct: the leverage points are found in examining our own mental models!

We must be patient. We are attempting a sea-change in thought. This takes time. The good AND bad news, according to Dana Meadows, is that "The [current] level of public discussion is so simpleminded that it doesn't take much to raise it's quality. The most fundamental tenets of system dynamics can clear up significant muddles". But if we treat people as if they are simple-minded, of course they turn us off, we have to fully embrace society where it is before we can hope to change it, IMHO.

Here are a few recent signs we might be making progress beyond the sporadic and scattered use of Systems approaches in education:

1. The November issue of School Administrator referred to on this listserv.

2. The newly revised Georgia science curriculum is based entirely on Project 2061's Benchmarks for Science Literacy; it is loaded with
systems- and process-oriented material and very much less oriented to factoid learning. And they're being systemic about the new curriculum implementation, providing training and time for teachers to learn. We are amazed.

3. Larry Lezotte's popular reform model called "Assembly Required" has a whole chapter devoted to "Systems Theory", it is loaded with references to mental models, closed loop thinking, defensive routines...

4. Robert Marzano's very popular reform model "What Works in Schools" is loaded with connections to systems.

5. Dare I say this...as much pain as NCLB, high stakes testing, and accountability has caused us, I am beginning to see a new willingness in teachers to explore new ways of teaching due I think in part to the fact that NCLB has broken down the classroom door ("leave me alone to do my own thing in the classroom"), ironically at the same time teachers have less time to learn and implement Systems because the requirements of and local responses to NCLB.

So maybe it's starting to turn. We do need hard research. But it sounds like that is starting to happen, look at the efforts of Ruth Fruland, Richard Plate, and Oren Zuckerman. All of those great, specific, concrete ideas Ruth and others shared should be explored. It's going to be slow going, but keeping a natural pace is critical. Two references that put this discussion in perspective for me are

1. the I Ching quote that Fritjof Capra uses to open his book "The Turning Point":

"After a time of decay comes the turning point. The powerful light that has been banished returns. There is movement, but it is not brought about by force...The movement is natural, arising spontaneously. For this reason the transformation of the old becomes easy. The old is discarded and the new is introduced. Both measures accord with time; therefore no harm results".

2. Alan AtKisson's book "Believing Cassandra", Ch 9 'The Innovation Diffusion Game'. The analogy is that society is an amoeba, creeping along and slowly engulfing new ideas like food particles. Leading the edge of the amoeba forward are the Innovators (Jay Forrester, Peter Senge, Barry Richmond, etc.), followed by the Change Agents (we help to translate the ideas of the Innovators to the masses), followed by the Early Adopters, and so on through the Mainstreamers, Laggards, Reactionaries, Iconoclasts, and Curmudgeons who hold the amoeba back at the tail end! But even the Laggards Curmudgeons play an important role, keeping the amoeba of culture from wearing itself out chasing new ideas all over the place. And the whole thing just moves slowly. So we keep working steadily at it, but not expecting the change to occur overnight.


Thanks to Richard Turnock and John Gunkler for kicking this one off, what a great discussion.

Steve Kipp

Follow Ups:

System Dynamics Rapport - Richard Turnock 12/2/2004