Subject: Communicating with educators

Posted by Anne Gallagher-Boswell on 5/19/2005
In Reply To:Communicating with educators Posted by Tracy Benson on 5/19/2005

Message:

Using systems tools in my class has been life changing for my teaching and my ability to get students to think and analyze at a deeper level. I have also found that student engagement and their level of confidence is consistently much greater when using systems tools. In the years I have been using systems thinking tools and mentoring other teachers in using them, I have found that it is difficult to describe what systems thinking is and the power of using systems thinking within the classroom to those who haven't heard of it. Yet when teachers see it in "action" they are infected immediately!

The teachers who have been through our training have incorporated a number of graphic organizers such as Behavior Over Time Graphs, Causal Loops, Connection Circles, Iceberg, Stock-Flow mapping and other systems tools such as Computer Modeling and Simulations. Teachers and students alike have found these tools to be very easy to use and an excellent tool for analysis and communication in any content area. For example, students who are studying a historical event can use Behavior Over Time Graphs to describe what was changing over time (the population, soil erosion, conflict, number of Moai, number of trees, etc.) and create connections using a connection circle to facilitate conversations and writing about cause and effect, interdependencies, etc. The students naturally begin thinking more systemically and show a desire to use these tools to help them in other areas.

Over the years we have noticed that the schools where systems thinking has been integrated, it has been attributed to the teachers who use systems thinking infecting other teachers. This is where I feel the leverage lies. I do read a couple of professional journals and what I read is helpful*I think what may begin to
"hook" people are articles that talk about personnel experiences and outcomes of using systems thinking within their classroom. I would like to see those who are interested in writing about the impact of ST/DM on student learning to collaborate with teachers who have been using ST tools with great success. Teachers rarely have time to write articles, but I am sure there are many teachers who would open their doors to someone writing about their classroom and their students. Hopefully articles like these would interest teachers enough to pursue participating in training.

At each of our sites that Tracy mentioned (Oregon, Arizona, Georgia and Iowa) we have project schools where people can come and visit to see the integration of systems thinking within classrooms and schools.

Anne Boswell
Systems Thinking In Schools
A Waters Foundation Project
Portland, Oregon

Follow Ups:

Communicating with educators - Lonni Gill 5/23/2005 
Communicating with educators - kschold@austin.rr.com 5/24/2005