Commentary: Promoting systems understanding

The construction of systems thinking pedagogy during a professional development institute

“…The potential for students to make sense of the world through systems thinking signals the power of the teachers' role in this process Curwen, et al, 2018;Senge et al, 2000). However, while studies acknowledge the importance of teachers in constructing systems thinking lessons (Chinn, 2017;Danish et al, 2017;Wilson, 2013;, other researchers have found that teachers need to develop their own systems thinking skills (Hmelo-Silver et al, 2007;Yoon & Klopfer, 2006). Learning about systems can be challenging (Hmelo-Silver & Azevedo, 2006), and reaching expertise in complex systems thinking requires that teachers know not only the deep principles of their domain (in this case, the course content, teaching standards, and pedagogy) but also the deep principles of systems thinking (Hmelo-Silver et al, 2007).…”

“…Learning about systems can be challenging (Hmelo-Silver & Azevedo, 2006), and reaching expertise in complex systems thinking requires that teachers know not only the deep principles of their domain (in this case, the course content, teaching standards, and pedagogy) but also the deep principles of systems thinking (Hmelo-Silver et al, 2007). Both Chinn (2017) and note a lack of research on teacher understandings of systems thinking as theory and pedagogy. explain that while research studies have focused on designing learning environments for students, "only a handful have studied teacher understanding of complex systems" and systems instruction (p. 101).…”

“…For this paper, we drew primarily from educational systems theorists, including the Cabreras, Capra, Checkland, Davis, Luisi, Senge, and Sumara. Exploring teacher learning processes will shed light on the values and perspectives that are foregrounded in this relatively new pedagogy. With the integration of systems thinking into classrooms, Chinn (2017) argues, "It is critical to develop means of preparing teachers to orchestrate learning adeptly with the innovative student learning environments that researchers are developing" because "there are challenges for teachers as they must learn new ideas…as well as facilitate students' learning" (p. 127). As systems thinking pedagogy is increasingly implemented and researched in classrooms (i.e., Curwen et al, 2018Curwen et al, , 2022, there is an increasing need for studying teacher learning about this paradigm-shifting theory.…”

“…Studies on systems thinking in education often focus on student responses to systems thinking instruction, mostly within science classrooms (Ben-Zvi Assaraf & Orion, 2005, 2010Danish et al, 2017;Hmelo-Silver et al, 2017). While they note the importance of teachers in the classroom (Chinn, 2017;Danish et al, 2017), most of this research targets students' systems thinking development; this study focuses instead on teachers' discourse about their own development in systems thinking instruction. Along these lines, we first explore the potential of research on teacher discourse as a method of analyzing teacher understandings.…”