Systems Thinking in the Classroom
Systems thinking is a form of analysis that goes against the traditional way of thinking. We tend to analyze by taking the pieces apart and looking at them individually. But that is not how things work. If we think in terms of a system we think of how each of those pieces impacts and interacts with each part of the system. It has traditionally been applied to the business world, but it could easily be applied to education and the classroom. Just about everything in the world is a part of a system, dependent on something else for proper functioning.
What are we trying to do in the classroom? Basically, model systems thinking. Sergiovanni in Strengthening the Heartbeat makes two analogies: the marching band model where everything is scripted and it is the script that holds the organization together; and the soccer team model where everything is fluid and it is community that holds things together. It will be nearly impossible to achieve this in the classroom if we as leaders and participants in the larger system can’t practice what we preach. Our success at achieving change in the classroom will be closely dependent on whether we can model systems thinking in the larger context of the school community – teachers, parents, and administrators.
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