H E N T N E W S

Holistic Education Network of Tasmania, Inc.

 May 20^th, 2002         Send this email to a friend

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When a grade 8 boy was asked what systems thinking meant to him he replied: “I am much better able to deal with my mother.”

Systems Thinking can give meaning to facts and provide a common foundation beneath mathematics, physical science, social studies, biology, history, and even literature, enabling students to transfer learning and understanding more easily from one context to another.

For example, the simple system of a pendulum swing is found in fluctuations of unemployment or economic business cycles.

Understanding systems is now a key element in the World Futures Essential Learning (PDF p20) for Tasmanian government schools.

WWW Sites

The Creative Learning Exchange

Papers from last conference

Resources for Maths, English, Science, SOSE ...

 

Systems Thinking
Reading

Systems thinking can give students confidence that they can shape their own futures. It can encourage students to appreciate the nature of complexity and to look beyond their immediate setting in search of the fundamental causes of problems.  They can also develop an optimism about understanding those problems of society that earlier generations have found so baffling.*

Systems thinking motto:

“If it's not fixed,
don't break it.”

Students learn that in most systems the cause of a symptom does not lie nearby and did not occur just before the symptom appeared.  Causes may be far removed in both timing and location from their observed effects.  Students also learn that actions that yield immediate results almost always have long-term consequences.**

* Forrester, J.W. (1992) System Dynamics and Learner-Centered-Learning in K-12 Grade Education. MIT Available here
** Forrester, J.W. (1994) Learning Through System Dynamics as Preparation for the 21st Century. MIT Available here
 

For the classroom...

Systems Thinking in the Classroom

MIT System Dynamics in Education Project

VENSIM Software
Free for schools

   SYSTEMS  

interconnectedness

 relationships

 interdependence

complexity

 non-linear

 wholeness

synthesis

emergent

Systemic Development can occur when both the process and outcomes are:
o aesthetically acceptable
o ethically defensible
o culturally feasible
o spiritually compatible
o ecologically responsible
not just
o technically feasible
o economically viable
o socially desirable
o practically manageable
o politically possible
                         R Bawden

Have you ever wondered.... 

...why most of the 25 insects that cause crop damage today became problems when pesticide was applied?

Overview of Systems Thinking

HENT Web Site and Discussion List

HENT has a comprehensive web site and there is a national discussion list on holistic education hosted by EdNA. 

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