Significant amounts of the systems thinking literature we have focused on this semester urges readers to remember that systems thinkers are not born, but emerge. In complex systems we not only need systems thinkers at the top, but also in every level of organizations. In the craziness of today's world then, why then have we not democratized systems thinking and metacognition so that it becomes incorporated into the early stages of the education system? Why are students still pushed to memorize topics as opposed to examining them, when the world we live in today is changing and self-organizing at a rate faster than you can write your note cards?
Metacognition, or increased awareness in general of one's own thought processes, was a topic addressed in this week's reading that I found especially interesting. Imagine if metacognition was taught in public schools and not only private 'hippie' schools starting at a young age. If this way of thinking in addition to systems thinking was incorporated into early school curriculum, I do not think that our jobs as environmentalists would be as pertinent to the health of the earth as they are now. In my opinion our mental models would be clearer and represent a more accurate depiction of the world, one in which oil companies and environmental organizations would benefit from realizing that they are a part of the same exact system.
On a lighter note, I also think that lack of metacognition and systems thinking in school curriculum has also contributed to the oh so popular quarter and mid life crises. From a young age our minds have been educated, but our hearts have potentially been forgotten in this process. We have lots of information in our brains, but much of it is flawed mental models and someone else's perspective that we have adopted as our own. We continue on this path until we are old enough to begin slightly realizing that we have no solid internal foundation for which some of our major beliefs were built upon. We understand that our system 1 thinking has had the wheel for far too long, and it is necessary to begin utilizing our system 2 thinking, which starts a long and uncomfortable process for many known as the quarter and mid life crises. Could this be avoided by democratizing systems thinking, and are we missing out on a world that is more meaningfully created and run?
In what way have you become a better systems thinker this semester?
Your post touched on several interesting thoughts, and I wanted to address some of them. It's not that there isn't metacognition happening in public schools, which I realize wasn't what you were claiming, but there's simply a huge amount of work already on a teacher's plate. Maybe it was just because I was a 1st or 2nd year teacher, but it seems like answering parent emails and grading could be two separate full time jobs. Also, students could be doing it and not vocalize it as metacognition to have the teacher positively reinforce their thinking. There's also educational research out there showing that once class sizes get over 16 students, achievement drops exponentially.
You bring up a valid point though about quarter and mid-life crisis, too. Looking at the demographics of the people within the Masters of the Environment program, a large percentage enrolled as a part of a linear path to their desired career; however, there's an overwhelming portion that are enrolled because they realized their jobs in finance, architecture, or education wasn't where they wanted to be and wanted to make a pivot. Having an education system addressing the entirety of who you are (mind, body, soul) would solve this, but I think what you were getting at is a deeper lack of what our society values too. There are people out there that can execute the daily functions of their job with incredible skill, but who is to say that isn't as intelligent as an attorney defending their client.
I think I've changed as a systems thinker this semester by including multiple perspectives within my analysis of a system. My approach to understanding them has shifted from trying to be reductionist about it and catalog everything in the system towards trying to understand the simple rules driving the system.
Posted by: Cody Janousek | 04/27/2017 at 09:02 AM
I agree whole-heartedly that systems thinking or at least thinking on a more interdisciplinary level should be introduced into the education system at an earlier age. I know that I would have personally benefitted from learning this type of material earlier on. Also, introducing systems learning to kids in elementary school and continuing throughout college might help to create systems thinkers that can better understand wicked problems.
I think that I have learned to analyze systems by taking into account different perspectives-- similar to Cody.
Posted by: Harsha Maragh | 05/02/2017 at 03:57 PM