educating for systems thinking

7/28/2019 Educating for Systems Thinking

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Educating for Systems

Thinking

Presented by Lori Stole

Sustainable Schools Collaborative

Portland, Oregon

Green Schools National ConferenceFebruary 28, 2012



Sustainable Schools Collaborative

• Program of the non-profit, International Sustainable

Development Foundation, based in Portland, OR• We work to facilitate integration of economically, socially

and environmentally sustainable concepts and practicesinto all educational and operational activities of our K-12school system.

• A primary focus has been the Sustainable OregonSchools Initiative (SOSI)

• Special interest is whole-district sustainability



What We Do

• Provide workshops and presentations

• Create resources and tools• Projects with schools / districts

• Annual Conference: Portland, Oregon (June 19, 2012)

• Oregon Sustainable School Awards >> U.S. Dept ofEducation Green Ribbon Schools

• Website: www.sustainableschools.org



What I’ll cover

• What is a System?

• Tools to understand systems

• Systems Thinking and K-12 education

• Oregon Environmental Literacy Plan



Heap or System?

• With a heap, nothing changes if you take awayparts

• Systems have 2 or more parts

• System Characteristics: – Whole greater than the sum of its parts

– Things change if you take away parts

– Has a purpose



Why Systems Thinking?

• The world is made up of dynamic, interdependent

systems.• Systems thinking allows understanding of the structure

and interconnections of these real-world systems, withthe purpose of finding leverage points to affect positive

change.

• Unfortunately, we’re taught to think of things as isolatedsubjects



The Iceberg Model

Events (what’s seen)

Patterns and Trends

Structure:Relationship between things

Mental Models:Attitudes and beliefs of people in

the system



Structure of the System

• Structure = relationship between the parts

• Structure determines outcomes

• To change the outcomes, structure must bechanged

• Understanding the structure helps identifyleverage points for change



Behavior-over-time Graph

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Time (Rounds)

Total

# Fish

36

32

28

24

20

16

12

8

4

00 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Time (Rounds)

Total

# Fish

36

32

28

24

20

16

12

8

4

0

Individual Accumulation Fish Stock Group Accumulation



Activity: Connection circles

For the story on the next slide you will:

• Make a list of key events

• Make a list of what’s changing over time• Create behavior-over-time graphs for the variables thathave the most influence. – Horizontal axis is time: beginning, middle, end

• Connection circle: Pick 5 or fewer variables and putaround a circle. – Draw lines that identify relationships, from cause to effect.

– Note how the variable is affected:

• In the same direction = “s” or “+”• In opposite direction = “o” or “-”



PORTLAND — In 2001, Northeast Portland resident Arif Khan had abackyard full of pavement. Now he has a garden full of veggies, herbs andfruit trees. “I preferred a garden over concrete,” he said. “I planted a tree afew feet high, and now I can climb up it and eat figs.”

While his fruit trees were growing, so was a new nonprofit organizationdevoted to tearing out unnecessary asphalt and concrete and replacing itwith community gardens. The Portland-based volunteer group Depave hasbeen rolling back impervious surfaces across the city since 2007. Lot bylot, its projects are reducing the volume of polluted stormwater runoff thatenters the city’s waterways, dialing down the urban “heat island effect” thatcomes from hot pavement in the summertime, and growing fruits and

vegetables for low-income families.

Over the past four years, hundreds of Depave volunteers have removed morethan 58,000 square feet of pavement to expose the soil underneath andunleash vegetation that can provide cooling shade, reduce noise and filter

air and water. Some depavers added comments on their sites, such as:“We de-paved our massive driveway last year and have beautiful gardensand 6 new trees and 8 rain barrels this year! And we put our concrete onCraigslist and every bit of it was picked up!”

Will your driveway be next? The group is offering a how-to workshop in thespring and an online guide to doing it yourself.



Once you have the Connection Circle:

• You can identify loops to pull out for a causal

loop diagram• It’s an “R”, reinforcing loop, if all the arrows are

either positive or negative, or there are an even

number of each• It’s a “B”, balancing loop, if there are more either

positive or negative arrows.

• As multiple causal loops are joined, you start tosee the complexity of the system.



Causal Loops

Unintended

Consequence…Too tired to get up and go

to school the next day

R

B

Gap

HerFIX/Action…

Stay up all nightto complete

Current State…Amount of

homeworkturned in

Desired State….Get all late

homework doneand submitted

Delay

S

O

S

Fix That Fails Archetype



Many archetypes are defined

Once you recognize that a system matches a known

archetype, you know more about how it will behave.Examples:• Success to the Successful

• Escalation

• Limits to Growth• Shifting the Burden/Addiction

• Repression/Revolution

• Fixes that Backfire/Fail

• Drifting Goals• Tragedy of the Commons



Computer Modeling

• Help to understand system dynamics

• Schools are using modeling software such asStella

• There are programs for many systems available

so students need only plug in numbers, and seehow the system reacts



Mental Models

• These are our assumptions or worldviews

• Shaped by the environment we live in• They guide our behavior

• Some are easier to change than others

• Activity: Discuss with a partner some prevailingmental models that make your work more

difficult. Are some mental models helpful?



The Habits of a Systems Thinker

• Habit cards from Waters Foundation

• Activity: Discuss with a partner, which habitsseem easiest and which are hardest to practice.

• Activity: Circles in the Air



Systems Thinking in Education

• Systems thinking concepts, tools and habits can deepenunderstanding for students of all ages

• Help to increase comprehension and deepen understanding =“critical thinking”.

• Provides a means to connect disciplines, just as they occur in thereal world.

• Fosters a learner-centered environment

• Visual tools provide a language that overcomes differentperspectives (language, culture…)

• We have an obligation to provide students the skills and tools

needed to be successful in this world.

• It’s necessary to think and work in terms of systems in order tocreate sustainable solutions.



Examples

• English class to analyze stories• Social studies class to analyze events

• Science class to better understand the real world

• Math class to understand the structure behind functions



Oregon Environmental Literacy Plan

• Taskforce was legislated in 2009 to create anenvironmental literacy plan.

• Plan was completed in 2010

• Work continues to move it forward

• It’s directed to the formal K-12 System



Oregon Environmental Literacy Plan:

Toward a Sustainable Future

Contents

• Overview• Ch 1: Introduction

• Ch 2: Environmental Literacy – Vision and EssentialUnderpinnings

• Ch 3: Educational Standards and GraduationRequirements

• Ch 4: Professional Development

• Ch 5: Assessment of Environmental Literacy

• Ch 6: Environmental Literacy Plan Implementation



The Environmental Literacy Strands

(Chapter 3 revised in 2011)

1. Systems Thinking

2. Physical, Living and Human Systems

3. Interconnectedness of People and the

Environment4. Personal and Civic Responsibility

5. Investigate, Plan and Create a Sustainable

Future



How should Systems Thinking fit in??

• Was originally Strand 2.

• Recognizing ST as a foundational skill for allelse, moved to Strand 1 with revision, and moredetail in Appendix A.

• Everyone knows it needs to be there• Few know how to approach it….yet



Where to Learn More about ST?Systems Thinking in Schools: Waters Foundation

• Website with a wealth of information and resourceshttp://www.watersfoundation.org/

• Workshops in St. Louis, Tucson, Portland

Creative Learning Exchange

• Systems dynamics and systems thinking in K-12 Education

• http://www.clexchange.org/#

• National listserv for ST in K-12

• Biannual conference in Massachusetts

Books: my examples and many more



Lori Porter Stole

Sustainable Schools [email protected]

503-307-4067www.sustainableschools.org

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