Systems Thinking

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Exemplar Type: COURSE
Title: Systems Thinking
Grades: 11-12, Undergrad
Discipline:
Submitted By:
Andrew Bernier


Catalog Description: Introduces systems thinking and complexity science, with an emphasis on analytical relevance for thinking about a myriad of issues involved in sustainability. Hones students' abilities to read and analyze critically, articulate their views clearly, and think about the many systems that shape their lives.

Course Overview: When it comes to sustainability, we find that most, if not all, of the complex challenges and solutions are made up of many parts with unique relationships between them. Many of the analytical and policy challenges related to sustainability involve systems - production, distribution and consumption systems, urban systems, cultural systems, military systems, hydrological systems, ecological systems - and their interrelations with one another. It is through systems that human beings interact with each other and the natural world. To think about sustainability clearly and devise effective solutions to triple bottom line predicaments confronting societies requires one to engage in “systems thinking.” “System” refers to an “integrated whole” constituted of several interacting units, which could be parts, actors or elements. The concept of an “integrated whole” can also be stated in terms of a set of relationships among the system’s constituent units, which are differentiated from their relationships with other internal units or even units outside the system. With that, the existence of a system presupposes the presence of a boundary delineating what units are inside the system and which are not.


BENCHMARKS REPRESENTED IN THIS EXEMPLAR

Big Ideas

  • Diversity makes complex life possible. It assures resilience in living systems

  • All systems have limits. Healthy systems live within their limits. Tap the power of limits

  • Every system is perfectly formed to get the results it gets

  • The changes to the Earth’s surface environments made by human activity are causing unintended consequences on the health and well-being of human and other life on Earth (proposed Anthropocene Epoch)

  • The significant problems we face can’t be solved with the same thinking we used to create them. Our prior experiences with the world create cognitive frameworks (also known as mental models/maps) that inform what we can perceive. They shape our behavior and our behavior causes results. If we want to produce different results, it all begins with a change in thinking

  • There is no beginning or end in a system. Intervene where there are favorable conditions, i.e., where and when possible

  • We must pay attention to the results of our thinking and behavior on the systems upon which we depend if we want to thrive over time. Read the Feedback

Higher Order Thinking Skills

  • Emergent: Creative Thinking

  • Emergent: Design Thinking

  • Complex: Critical Thinking

  • Complex: [Living] Systems Thinking

Applied Knowledge and Actions

  • Laws and Principles that govern the physical and biological world

  • System Dynamics and Change

  • Multiple Perspectives

Dispositions

  • Curious

  • Imaginative

  • Mindful

Applications and Actions

  • Engage in Dialogue

  • Engage in Role-Playing, Learning Journeys, Simulations & Games

  • Plan Scenarios

  • Design for multiple pathways, resilience and reinforcement

  • Design for whole systems integrity with ecological principles and physical laws in mind

  • Envision, strategize and plan

  • Use creative tension to resolve conflicts