Abstract
Based on another chapter in this volume titled “What is Systems Thinking?”, this chapter discusses the application of systems thinking models in education that are informed by complexity science – focusing in particular on the significance of complex adaptive systems (CAS) as conceptual frameworks for both cognition and human organization. It introduces five frameworks that are useful individually but also operate as an ecology of models, tools, and frameworks. Each is based on CAS principles. The first model (systems thinking) identifies simple rules for the emergence of cognition, metacognition, and systems thinking. These rules, or “building blocks,” are distinctions, systems, relationships, and perspectives (DSRP). A second model or tool (systems mapping) provides a corollary for teaching applied systems thinking/DSRP. A third pedagogical model known as Map Activate Check or MAC utilizes systems thinking and mapping to frame any given lesson, to inform the activities or activation of the concepts in the map, and to check that they have been learned. This chapter further recognizes that the acts of learning and teaching occur in the context of a variety of overlapping human systems. Complexity science provides both insight into these systems and examples to better understand and design integrated learning environments. The fourth model, systems leadership, is an organizational model comprised of four CAS-based functions of organizations – vision, mission, capacity, and learning (VMCL). These four functions explicate the simple rules for designing and leading organizations that function optimally by continuously learning and leveraging complexity. Finally, a fifth model, called a culture-building graph (CBG), offers guidance for leadership to implement change within any group, irrespective of its formal organization. The CBG is a network theory-informed approach to inculcate change across organizations of any size or composition.
These five systems models applied individually or in combination provide school teachers and administrators with an ecology of tools to leverage systems and complexity and to increase success in educational efforts from the classroom to district-wide initiatives.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Barrett, E. (2014). Designing a classroom where Ithaca students can learn better and longer. Ithaca.com. Retrieved from http://www.ithaca.com/family_and_health/designing-a-classroom-where-ithaca-students-can-learn-better-and/article_f0175d00-9b15-11e3-974f-001a4bcf887a.html
Beer, S. (2002). What is cybernetics? Kybernetes, 31(2), 209–219. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684920210417283
Briñol, P., & Petty, R., Rucker, D. (2006). The role of meta-cognitive processes in emotional intelligence. Psicothema. 18 Suppl. 26–33.
Brown, L. (2014). DSRP and VMCL implementation at Ithaca City school district. In Cornell University System Thinking v2.0 Conference, Ithaca, NY.
Cabrera, D. (2006). Systems thinking. (Ph.D. Dissertation). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University.
Cabrera, L. (2011). The patterns of thinking (DSRP) for leadership. Pennsylvania, PA: Presentation to the PA Superintendents Association.
Cabrera, D., & Cabrera, L. (2012). Thinking at every desk. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.
Cabrera, D., & Cabrera, L. (2015). Systems thinking made simple: New Hope for solving wicked problems in a complex world (1st ed.). Ithaca, NY: Odyssean Press.
Cabrera, D., & Cabrera, L. (2016) Learning systems thinking at the graduate level: A case study in applying systems thinking to public policy. The Cornell policy review.. Retrieved from http://www.cornellpolicyreview.com/learning-systems-thinking-at-the-graduate-level/
Cabrera, D., & Cabrera, L. (2018). Flock not clock; design, align, and Lead to achieve your vision (1st ed.). New York, NY: Plectica Publishing.
Cabrera Research Lab. (2015). The purpose of an activity is to activate a concept. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9g854J1dTGYd1BFbFNlRDFhajg/view
Cabrera, D., Cabrera, L., & Powers, E. (2015). A unifying theory of systems thinking with psychosocial applications. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 32(5), 534–545. https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2351
Carlson, J. (2013). Green Hills school rethinks teaching methods. The New Jersey Herald. Retrieved from http://www.njherald.com/story/21620263/green-hills-school-rethinks-teaching-methods#
Couzin, I. D., Krause, J., James, R., Ruxton, G. D., & Franks, N. R. (2002). Collective memory and spatial sorting in animal groups. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 218(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1006/yjtbi.3065
Dana L. J. and Daniel A. N. (2010). Emotional Intelligence: An Integrative Meta-Analysis and Cascading Model. Journal of Applied Psychology © 2010 American Psychological Association. 95(1), 54 –78 0021-9010/10/$12.00. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017286
Dobrowolski, J. (2015). Answering questions about the World’s water security problems. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Retrieved from https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2015/04/21/answering-questions-about-worlds-water-security-problems
Ferlazzo, L. (2014). Response: The ‘secret sauce’ of formative assessment. Education Week. Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2014/12/response_the_secret_sauce_of_formative_assessment.html?qs=ferlazzo
Ferlazzo, L. (2015). Response: Ways to build ‘Authentic Engagement’ & Not ‘Strategic Compliance’. Education Week. Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2015/04/response_ways_to_build_authentic_engagement_not_strategic_compliance.html
Fleming, S. M. (2014). Metacognition is the forgotten secret to success insight into our own thoughts, or metacognition, is key to high achievement in all domains. Scientific American Mind.
Gell-Mann, M. (1988). The concept of the institute. In D. Pines (Ed.), Emerging syntheses in science (1st ed., pp. 1–15). Redwood City, CA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Comp. Original work published 1988.
Gell-Mann, M. (1994). Complex adaptive systems. In G. Cowan, D. Pines, & D. Meltzer (Eds.), Complexity: Metaphors, models, and reality (pp. 17–45). Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Gell-Mann, M. (1995). What is complexity? Remarks on simplicity and complexity by the Nobel prize-winning author of the quark and the jaguar. Complexity, 1(1), 16–19. https://doi.org/10.1002/cplx.6130010105
Gell-Mann, M. (2003). The quark and the jaguar: adventures in the simple and the complex. London: Abacus.
Johnson, J., Mackey, P., & Zoellner, B. (2014). Technical assistance to Think STEM academy. Mid-Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory.
Kauffman, S. (1995). At home in the universe: The search for laws of self-organization and complexity (1st ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Kowch, E. G. (2016). Surviving the next generation of organizations – As leaders. In N. Rushby & D. Surry (Eds.), The Wiley handbook of learning technology (pp. 484–507). Oxford, UK: Wiley.
Kuhn, D., & Dean, D. (2004). A bridge between cognitive psychology and educational practice.
Kuhn, L. (2008). Complexity and educational research: A critical reflection. In M. Mason (Ed.), Complexity theory and the philosophy of education. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Lichbach, M. I. (1995). The 5% rule. Rationality and Society, 7(1), 126–128.
Litman, J. A. (2009). Curiosity and metacognition, pp. 105–116 in Larson, C. B. (ed.), Metacognition: New research developments. Retrieved on November 2, 2015, from: http://drjlitman.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Litman-2009-invited-chapter.pdf
MacGill, V. (2016). Developing an understanding of violence using the DSRP theory as a framework. In Proceedings of the International Society of Systems Sciences. University of Colorado. Retrieved from https://isss2016.sched.com/event/7qcm/developing-an-understanding-of-violence-using-the-dsrp-theory-as-a-framework
Marieb, E. N., & Hoehn, K. (2007). Human anatomy & physiology (7th ed.). San Francisco: Pearson Benjamin Cummings.
Mason, M. (Ed.). (2008). Complexity theory and the philosophy of education. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Mitchell, M. (2011). Complexity: A Guided Tour (1st ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN-10: 0199798109 ISBN-13: 978-0199798100.
Morrison, K. (2002). School leadership and complexity theory. London: Routledge/Falmer.
National Research Council. (2012). Education for life and work: Developing Transferable knowledge and skills in the 21st xentury. Committee on Defining Deeper Learning and 21st Century Skills, Pellegrino, J. W. & Hilton, M. L. (Eds). Board on Testing and Assessment and Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Nittolo, J. (2015). Personal interview.
Noodle Staff. (2015). 41 Most innovative K–12 schools in America. Noodle. Retrieved from https://www.noodle.com/articles/innovative-schools-2015
O’Connor, K. (2016). $10M question: How would you redesign high school? Ithaca Journal. Retrieved from http://www.ithacajournal.com/story/news/local/2016/05/23/10m-question-how-would-you-redesign-high-school/84602168/
School Scene: The Fairfax County Public Schools Public Television Channel (2010). Dr. Cabrera and the patterns of thinking method at Fairfax County Public Schools [video documentary].
Steele, B. (2006). Did outreach really work? Cornell team will develop tools to evaluate science and technology education. Cornell Chronicle.. Retrieved from http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2006/06/did-outreach-really-work-cu-team-develop-evaluation-tools
Stone, J. (2012). Vision and brain: How we perceive the world. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Watercourse and Environmental Concern Inc. (1995). Wetland in a Pan. Washington, DC: United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Tolman, E. C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychological Review, 55, 189–208.
Waldrop, M. (1992). Complexity: The emerging science at the edge of order and Chaos (1st ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.
Wilson, F. R. (1998). The Hand: How its uses shapes the brain, language, and human culture. New York: Vintage Books.
Xie, J., Sreenivasan, S., Korniss, G., Zhang, W., Lim, C., & Szymanski, B. (2011). Social consensus through the influence of committed minorities. Physical Review E, 84(1). https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.84.011130
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Cabrera, D., Cabrera, L. (2019). Complexity and Systems Thinking Models in Education: Applications for Leaders. In: Spector, M., Lockee, B., Childress, M. (eds) Learning, Design, and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17727-4_101-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17727-4_101-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-17727-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-17727-4
eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education
Publish with us
Chapter history
-
Latest
Complexity and Systems Thinking Models in Education: Applications for Leaders- Published:
- 14 May 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17727-4_101-2
-
Original
Complexity and Systems Thinking Models in Education: Applications for Leaders- Published:
- 20 August 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17727-4_101-1