Subject: Systems Thinking in Action Conference

Posted by Julie Turner on 9/2/2003

Message:

I am writing to invite you to the 13th annual Pegasus
Conference, "Changing our Organizations to Change the
World: Systems Thinking in ActionŽ."

Why is the Pegasus Conference important? As a forward-
thinking educator in today's challenging times, you
and your school department are apt to be facing multiple
imperatives: a tighter budget, a smaller staff, and an
important mandate to demonstrate excellence. The Pegasus
Conference offers fresh new ways to develop and sustain
the strength and health of your school and your community.

Educator Elaine Johnson will introduce Management By Means
for educational institutions using a pathway to academic
excellence that she developed and describes in her books
"Contextual Teaching and Learning" (Corwin Press, 2002) and
"The Dismantling of American Public Education and How to
Stop It" (Scarecrow Press, forthcoming). Her keynote will
show the vast discrepancy between organizations that focus
on achieving arbitrarily set quantitative targets and those
that strive to conduct all work in accord with patterns
observed in natural systems. She will discuss how schools
and companies can achieve better outcomes by nurturing the
means by which results are achieved.

What else will you experience? The Pegasus Conference
offers one of the most remarkable environments for learning
you will find anywhere: a rich variety of keynote and
concurrent sessions, forum presentations, pre- and post-
conference skill-building sessions, networking gatherings,
and skill clinics. Some other sessions of interest include:

--> Linda Booth Sweeney, author of "When a Butterfly
Sneezes: A Guide for Helping Kids Explore Interconnections
in Our World Through Favorite Stories," will present a
concurrent session on learning to think in terms of systems

--> "From Our Future Leaders: Student Perspectives on
Changing the World," will be presented by Larry Weathers
and Students from the Harvard and Carlisle, MA, schools.

--> Peter Senge and the staff of Roca, a grassroots
community organization in Chelsea, MA, will discuss their
VIA Project – a street school for youth and young adults
aged 12 to 26 - in a plenary keynote session.

Who attends? The Pegasus Conference is a gathering of
people like yourself, who feel the urgency to better
understand and manage complex K-12 systems to increase
their school system's effectiveness. You'll meet leading
theorists and practitioners from around the world: leaders
in business, healthcare, government, and community
organizations -- as well as other K-12 educators – who will
share new concepts and skills that address structural
change and improvement.

When? This year's conference will be held from October 8 to
10 at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center in Boston.

How can you learn more? Full information is available
online at http://www.pegasuscom.com/stapage.html.

At your request, I will be happy to mail you a Pegasus
Conference brochure, a session description sheet, and a CD-
Rom that shows the importance of the conference to some of
last year's attendees—along with information about making
the conference more affordable.

Warm regards,

Julie