Schools That Learn by Peter M. Senge

Author:Peter M. Senge [Senge, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-385-52186-4
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2012-07-31T04:00:00+00:00

Operational thinking really comes alive when students can use interactive models to simulate and analyze the effects of different actions on overall system behavior. In concert with scientific thinking—where the model’s assumptions are made explicit and challenged—even young learners can engage in sophisticated processes of building rigor and relevance.

The exchange also illustrates the dance of collaborative inquiry—thinking together about a complex matter. The boys are probing each other’s ways of thinking through the design problem they face and making their own thinking more explicit in the process. In this way, collaboration and reflection become inseparable elements of mutual learning. They are helping one another; neither is right nor wrong; both are learning. Joe hadn’t really thought about the Indian burial grounds as a constraint; this was outside the assumptions upon which he was operating. Likewise, Billy had not paid a lot of attention to the environmental damage of his trails because he was focused on maximizing hiker traffic and park revenues. Both conclude that there may be still better overall designs if they expand their assumption sets. In short, the boys are becoming more aware of their own taken-for-granted assumptions as they think through ideas together.

Of course, such interactions both build and depend upon mutual respect. It is easy to imagine two young boys simply arguing about who is right and never challenging their own reasoning. This is why educators like Scheetz understand that realizing the benefit of systems thinking tools is inseparable from deep and broad engagement of students, and that how, in turn, this depends on the overall school environment. As Scheetz says, “an environment where learning is likely to occur is one that is safe and secure and where taking risks is okay.”

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