Thoughts from TCNJ’s STEM Education M.Ed Capstone course
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How is Systems Thinking Useful to Education?
Systems Thinking
What is systems thinking? While not a current buzzword in the education field, you may be familiar with some of its core ideas. Perhaps you’ve had a student relentlessly ask, “why are we learning this”? Systems thinking emphasizes the interconnectedness of our world – how do all of the smaller parts we are used to fixating on build into a bigger picture? How will these “component parts of a system will act differently when isolated from the system’s environment or other parts of the system”? By being able to flexibly think through these different perspectives, individuals (and students) can develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Implications for Our School Systems
While test scores should not be the “end-all, be-all” criteria for the determining the performance of an educational system, it frequently is. The 2018 PISA results placed the United States at 13th overall (ranked by reading scores). As of recent years, countries such as Finland, South Korea, and Poland have been recognized for their reinvention of their classrooms and school communities. In Amanda Ripley’s book The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way, she pits the American education system against these three countries.
So, what are Ripley’s recommendations for improving the American school systems based on her findings, and how do they inherently align with the values of systems thinking?
1. Teacher Preparation Programs: Ripley states that the selection of pre-service teachers into teacher preparation programs plays a significant role in the quality of education that students receive. While I cannot offer advice into how colleges and universities go about admitting students, I can suggest that colleges and universities should consider what they are teaching their teacher candidates, and that they should strongly consider systems thinking, as it encompasses both students’ personal lives (idea #2) and students’ academics (idea #3). Additionally, school districts should offer professional development on this way of thinking to target teachers already in the field.
2. Our Schools Consist of a Plethora of Systems: It is impossible to think about the student without considering their home lives. While Ripley does state that social background do not impact test scores, teachers need to be in touch with this information to form connections with their students and adjust their classroom and lessons accordingly. If a student has a good relationship with the teacher, they are more likely to learn.
Ripley conducted a survey with exchanged students who studied in the United States, and U.S. students that studied abroad. Her findings also show that parents in the United States typically provide much more structure in their child’s days than those of other countries. Additionally, both sets of students agree that U.S. students place too much of a focus on high school sports. Returning to the questions I posed in the introduction:
- Would students’ interactions with school change if they had more freedom at home? Would they become more accountable and investing their education?
- How would students function if the sports system was removed from schooling?
We get the possibility of a better understanding of students. We can learn something about the context of individual students’ lives. We can understand what their motivations are. We can learn something about their needs. We get a better understanding of schools… and how schools and communities interact with each other. We get some new possibilities when we think systematically.
Joseph Rayle
3. Applicability to the K-12 Classroom – Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): As I read some scholarly articles on systems thinking, I couldn’t help but notice how the studies were aimed at either secondary or post-secondary students/teachers, or sciences that are typically taught in these upper grades. If the goal is to improve schools and student learning (and perhaps set an example for other countries), integrating systems thinking into our younger classrooms may be part of the solution. The NGSS initiatives already hint at this through their crosscutting standards. As an elementary education teacher, my focus cannot solely be on my grade level – I need to have a long-term view for my students’ educational careers. I should be able (and required) to introduce systems thinking at a smaller degree in order to prepare my students to delve into it more in older grades.
Ripley’s findings also show that international students who studied abroad in the United States and U.S. students that studied abroad collectively agree that school in the United States is much easier. Could systems thinking be the higher order thinking solution these students need for an extra push?
Is it time for systems thinking to take center stage as a buzzword and agent of change in the education field? Early piloting has shown promising results – what could systems thinking do for your system of students?
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