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Systems Thinking
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Whole systems views emerged during the first few decades of the 20th Century. In the most general sense, a system is a configuration of parts connected and joined together by a web of relationships. The joining and integrating of the web of relationships creates emergent properties of the whole. These properties of the whole may not be found in any analysis the parts. This is the value of systems theory - the wholeness that can't be seen in the parts. |
Solving Today's Problems Many of the local and global challenges facing us today are embedded in interconnected systems. Addressing these challenges means moving beyond the limitations of the perspectives, methods and tools of traditional reductionistic science. "... systems thinking is based on the fundamental shift of perception from the world as a machine to the world as a living system." |
Systems thinking involves shifting attention
- from the parts to the whole,
- from objects to relationships,
- from structures to processes,
- from hierarchies to networks,
- from the rational to the intuitive,
- from analysis to synthesis,
- from linear to non-linear thinking.
Systemic development occurs when both the process and the outcomes are
- aesthetically acceptable
- ethically defensible
- culturally feasible
- spiritually compatible
- ecologically responsible
not just
- technically feasible
- economically viable
- socially desirable
- practically manageable
- politically possible
Introduction to Systems Thinking
Overview of Systems Thinking - D Aronson
Systems Thinking: An Operational Perspective of the Universe - G Bellinger
Systems Thinking in Education
System Dynamics Education
Project
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Forrester, J.W. (1992) MIT
Learning Through System Dynamics as Preparation for the 21st Century.
Systems Thinking in the Classroom - R&S Stack
Systems Thinking - HENT NEWS: Issue 7
Holistic Education Network of Tasmania, Australia
www.hent.org
Free
to use for educational purposes but please acknowledge source.