See the System, Proposals for the Woolman Program Committee

The StS working group is pleased to present a series of proposals for the consideration of the Program Committee of Woolman.

The paradigm of Systems Thinking is the opposite of reductionist thinking, it is the idea that we can only understand the world that we live in by understanding the relationships of the elements that comprise our world. By understanding the elements of the world around us we can begin to understand the nature of the problems and issues that confront our societies, cultures, organizations and neighborhoods. We can begin to see the issues we confront though understanding the relationship of the elements and the information, energy and stimulations flowing through the various elements of the system that we are studying.

We believe that the best thing that we as teachers and guides who are deeply involved in the systems thinking world can do is to encourage children to maintain their natural view of the world as a whole system and to nurture the systems view of the issues, and problems they will confront in the world to find the leverage points of the systems to achieve change.

1. The See the System week for Children

We propose to organize and facilitate a week-long experience for children aged between 12 through 14 and stimulate the co-creation of knowledge by allowing them to choose a problem, issue, or concern to them and to discover the various elements that cause that problem to exist. When the systemic elements that cause the problems to exist can be identified, the information, energy, assets and inflection points can be discovered and the relationships defined. Once the visualization of the system is discovered it can be mapped on paper of using an application specific for that purpose and the leverage points to adjust the systems and its elements identified.

The co-creation of knowledge is designed to be driven through the interaction of the children working in groups. The function of the mentor is to suggest sources where methods and resources for discovery and analysis can be found. Mentors do not lecture and do not judge or otherwise value.

At the end of the exercise week the children in groups will present their findings, analysis, conclusions and suggested course of systemic change to a group of the community. The community will give feedback if requested.

It is proposed that the sessions be convened on the grounds of Woolman in a facility to be determined. Depending on the determination of the scope of the selection for the session (local, state wide, nation wide, etc) and selection criteria lodging may be arranged. It is suggested that recruitment, selection, etc. for the attendees be the responsibility of the Woolman staff or such others as may be appropriate.

The cost of the delivery of the See the System week for children is subject to negotiations in terms of expense and stipend for the facilitators and materials.

2.The See the System week for Children and Adults Simultaneously

We propose to organize and facilitate experiential sessions much the same as that we have proposed for Children but to make the session available to adults but to organize the sessions in separate venues to ameliorate the power structures that inevitably exist between adults and children, given that one of the goals of the process is the nurturing of agency within the group of children.

3. The See the System week for Children and Grandparents

We propose to organize and facilitate experiential sessions much the same as that we have proposed for Children but to make the session available to grandparents, however the notion of separation between Children and Grandparents would not be necessary since the same issues of power structure does not seem to exist. Here the role of mentor can be filled by the grandparent and enhance the intergenerational value of the relationship.

4. The See the Systems Mentor training week

Key to a successful See the Systems experience is the participation of a trained Mentor. The skill set of a trained Mentor is distinctly different than that of the trained teacher. The teacher lectures to students who listen and are expected to absorb knowledge (usually without questioning the knowledge) , it is a didactic exercise. The teacher is in the position of power and wields the sword of truth and reduction and thereby reveals the phenomenal world in its component parts. The Mentor does not claim a franchise on the truth but merely suggests sources of inquiry and possible methods to interrogate the system under study. This allows the group of students to find the truth of the matter themselves, to co-create knowledge and discovery not only agency, but the art of critical thinking. The Mentor training week develops the skills needed to mentor communities of students in the art of seeing the world as a unified system, analyzing the system to find its component structure and informations flows, leverage points to change the system, critical thought and perhaps the most important skill, critical thinking.

Lagniappe

The proposals outlined are all scalable and portable. They can be duplicated periodically for the particular groups addressed for further exploration, and to bring discovery to practice. They can be experienced in a physical environment and as a hybrid teaching experience.

All of these proposals are part of a broader initiative to bring systems thinking to the world as a balancing element to the reductionist thinking and teaching methods of traditional education.

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