Learning, Sustainability and

Change- a systemic

approachDr Stephen Sterling

c Stephen Sterling

Part 1

Re-thinking our

thinking…

‘To live in the third millenium we shall need new thinking joined with new ways of

perceiving and visioning ourselves, others, nature and the world around us.’

- Ervin Lazlo 1997

The new conditions

Conditions of postmodern society:

• unsustainability• uncertainty and insecurity• complexity• interdependence• globalisation • stress

Towards a whole systems perspective….

Systemic understanding

‘To understand things systemically literally means to put them into a context, to establish the nature of their relationships.’

- Fritjof CapraThe Web of Life, 1996

Nesting system levels

Sustainability Education

EducationSociety

Biosphere

Systems thinking and sustainable development

Both are about:• Thinking in a more holistic and integrative

way• Recognising and managing complexity• Making systems more sustainable• Situation improvement rather than simple

problem-solving

Systems thinking involves a shift of attention…

FROM….• Parts• Things • Static states• Linear cause-effect

• Control mechanisms

TOWARDS…• Wholes

• Process and relation• Dynamics • Multiple influences and

feedback• Self-organisation and

emergence

Spot the difference!

Thinking - in boxes

Thinking - like a web

Part 2

Re-thinking education

Levels of educational thinking

Practice

Provision

Policy

Purpose

Paradigm

BIG QUESTION…

• WHAT IS EDUCATIONFOR?!

Purposes of education

• Vocational - preparing for economic life

• Socialisation - reproduction of culture, promotion of citizenship

• Liberal - developing individual’s potential

• Transformative - education for change, for a better world

‘Crisis of education…’

‘The fact that we see (social and environmental decay) as disconnected events or fail to see them at all is....evidence of a considerable failure that we have yet to acknowledge as an educational failure. It is a failure to educate people to think broadly, to percieve systems and patterns, and to live as whole persons’.

-David Orr Earth in Mind, 1995

Is education part of the solution…?

…or part of the problem?

'Sustainability is about the terms and conditions of human survival, and yet we still educate at all levels as if no such crisis existed.

The content of our curriculum and the processes of education, with a few notable exceptions, has not changed.’

- Prof David Orr Ecoliteracy, 1992. 

The ability to respond…

SUSTAIN – ABILITY

RESPONSE – ABILITY

Part 3

Systemic change and learning

Key statement:

Making a difference through education

requires

making a difference in education

Two sorts of change

Piecemeal change• changing parts of a

system• no consideration of

system as a whole• often imposed

• often short-lived

Systemic change• change with effect on

whole system in mind• change with emergence

in mind• by purposeful,

collaborative design• often long-lived

Significant change depends on...

a) A deeper critique - of current trends

b) A broader vision - of necessary alternatives

c) An effective strategy - of systemic change

Levels of learning and changeFirst order change Effectiveness/

efficiency ‘Doing things better’

Second order change

Examining assumptions

‘Doing better things’

Third order change

Paradigm change ‘Seeing things differently’

Part 4

Re-orientation and strategies…

Hidden dimensions – the education ‘iceberg’

Practice

Policy

Purpose

Paradigm

Provision

‘Sustainable Education’

Does sustainability require:

‘Re-Visioning Learning and Change?

Choose your metaphor….

• Mechanistic view of education

• Reductionist view of knowledge

• Deficit view of learner

• Transmissive model of pedagogy

• Ecological (relational) view of education

• Holistic view of knowledge

• Appreciative view of learner

• Transactional or transformative view of pedagogy

‘Where we are’ (dominant ideas)

• Purpose - education as preparation for economic life

• Policy - education as product (courses/qualifications)

• Practice - education as instruction

‘Where we are’ (dominant ideas)

• Purpose - education as preparation for economic life

• Policy - education as product (courses/qualifications)

• Practice - education as instruction

‘Where we need to go’ (newer ideas)

• Purpose - education for sustainable society, economy and ecology

• Policy - education as process of individual and social capacity

building• Practice - education as participative

learning

From control to participation

FROM: • Overspecialisation and

fragmentation • Single issue

management• Top-down policy

making• Disciplinarity• Goal oriented planning

TOWARDS:

• More integrated structures

• Integrated decision-making

• Participative approaches• Inter and trans

disciplinarity• Adaptive management

Shifts in curriculum, content and process

FROM:• Curriculum as top-

down ‘product’• Fixed knowledge• Abstract knowledge• Teaching/instruction• Few learning styles• Passive learning

TOWARDS:• Curriculum as

experience/situated learning• Provisional knowledge• Real world knowledge• Participative learning• Multiple learning styles• Reflective/active learning

Shifts in structures and policy

FROM:• Disciplinarity• Specialisation• External assessment

• Teaching system• Formal education

TOWARDS:• Inter and transdisciplinarity• Broadness and flexibility• Continous internal

assessment and reflection• Learning system• (As part of) life-long

education

Towards sustainable institutions

FROM:

• Incoherence and fragmentation

• Large scale• Loss of connectivity• Closed community• Teaching organisation• Microcosm of

unsustainable society

TOWARDS:• Systemic coherence

and synergy• Human scale• High connectivity• Open community• Learning organisation• Microcosm of

sustainable society

Dimensions of change

ETHOS

PEDAGOGY, RESEARCH,LEARNING, INQUIRY

COMMUNITY LINKS

CURRICULUM

RESOURCEMANAGEMENT

PHYSICALSTRUCTURES

MANAGEMENTSTYLE

Biodiversity

Zero waste

Community awareness

Healthy learning environment

Efficient urban infrastructure

Ownership and pride

Community employment

Innovative solutions

Regional Council

Dept of ConservationMinistry for

EnvironmentLocal Iwi

Community groups

Cultural diversity

Sustainable business

University

City Council

Other schools

Ministry of Education

Employment skills

Relationships to Create a Sustainable School

Enviroschools, Hamilton, NZ

SCHOOL

Part 5

Learning

responses…

Learning responses to the challenge of sustainability

• No response - no change• Accommodation - green ‘gloss’

• Reformation - serious reform• Transformation - whole system

redesign

Different levels of engagement

• Education about sustainability: content and/or estate emphasis. Fairly easily accommodated into existing system. Learning about change.

• Education for sustainability: values and skills emphasis. Greening of institutions. Deeper questioning and reform of purpose, policy and practice. Learning for change.

• Sustainable education: Capacity building and action emphasis. Sustainable institutions/communities. Learning as change.

Part 6

Keys to systemic change

Learning points from AFANet

• Sustainability is imprecise.• Integrating sustainability requires the re-

thinking of institutional purposes.• Sustainability is complex and multifaceted.• Teaching it requires the transformation of

mental models.• Programming sustainability requires a

rethinking of teaching and learning.• There is no universal blueprint for educational

change towards sustainability.

Ingredients of systemic change

• Ensuring feedback• Encouraging reflection• High levels of

connectivity and communication

• Inclusion• Shared ethos• Identifying ‘champions’

• Alliances outside system

• Exemplars• Leadership• Channels to spread

innovation• Appreciative culture• Resources/support AND…?

Conclusion

Ways forward…

Work towards transformative learning...e.g.…

"Once you experience such an educational course, you are

changed forever."Ferdinando Massamormile

Italian Course Participant                                                   

      

Schumacher College

Design fulfilling learning environments…e.g.

reflective learning for individuals and the institution cooperation and shared purpose the enjoyment of learning service and creating opportunity for service treading lightly and living simply the intrinsic value of work of all kinds celebrating diversity recognising limitations a good experience for everyone

- Schumacher College values

Define necessary competencies e.g…

• looking at problems in a global context• working co-operatively and responsibly• accepting cultural differences• thinking in a critical and systemic way• solving conflicts in a non-violent way• changing life-styles to protect the

environment• defending human rights• participating in politics (Cogan and Derricott,

2000)

Interdependence – of society, economy and the natural environmentCitizenship and stewardship – rights and responsibilities, participation, and co-operationNeeds and rights of future generationsDiversity – cultural, social, economic and biologicalQuality of life, equity and justiceSustainable change – development and carrying capacityUncertainty, and precaution in action

- Sustainable Development Education Panel, England, 1998

Decide what’s important in curriculum content..e.g….

Recognise systemic thinking e..g..WWF Linkingthinking Project

Aim: to influence both policy and practice towards the recognition and inclusion of systems approaches...

...so that young people, their teachers and others might be better equipped to understand and address issues of complexity and sustainability.

Implement strategies...e.g…

Regarding what we do now:• What is of value that we need to keep?• What might need modification?• What do we probably need to abandon?• What new ideas, principles,

methodologies, working methods, or policies are needed?

‘Vision is absolutely necessary to guide and motivate action. More than that, vision, when widely shared and firmly kept in sight, brings into being new systems’.

- Donella Meadows, Beyond the Limits to Growth, 1992

Develop a common vision….