Download Nora Jarvis October 3, 2011 Masters in Teaching Program

Nora Jarvis
October 3, 2011
Masters in Teaching Program
Achieving Sustainability Education Through an Examination of Interconnected Systems
Currently, education exists in a very isolated state. There is a tendency to view
the problems of education as a static issue, not as one issue that is connected to many
other issues. However, in order to achieve a more sustainable world, we need to broaden
the scope of teaching, learning, and schooling to incorporate them into a world
framework that sees these ideas as part of a whole, interconnected world. We must look
at education through three different lenses. First, seeing education's role in the
sustainability of the planet and other peoples. Second, seeing how systems thinking and
the case-in-point teaching method function as sustainability education on the smaller
scale of the classroom. Third, moving to an even smaller scale, we will see how the
functions of the brain can affect the goal to achieve a more sustainable world. It is also
important to look at the struggles on the path towards sustainability education, what some
of the authors refer to as 'dis-equilibrium,' as a continuing theme through the different
scopes because this illustrates their own interconnection.
In their article “Why Sustainability Education Needs Pedagogies of Reflection
and Contemplation,” Marie Eaton, Kate Davies, Sarah Williams and Jean MacGregor
(2011) grapple with how to approach sustainability education. They suggest that
typically issues of sustainability, like environmental, economic, and social sustainability,
are separated. These issues need to be seen as parts of a whole system, in such a way that
in order to examine any issue, it is necessary to look at all the other issues surrounding
that issue. These sorts of problems, that are so complex and far reaching, are referred to
as adaptive challenges. Adaptive challenges require a deep restructuring of the system in
which these issues operate—a whole paradigm shift that affects and is affected by other
issues.
It is also necessary to move these issues down to the classroom. Sharon Parks, in
her article “Leadership for a Changing World: A Call to Adaptive Work,” (2005) uses
examples in the classroom to look at this interconnection. One of her examples is casein-point teaching. In this model, teachers work off of students' tendency to learn from
experience. When an issue presents itself in class, the teacher uses the issue as an
example to illustrate a concept. The teacher helps the students use both their surface
knowledge of the case and the underlying issues to piece together a conclusion that also
correlates with the classroom material (Parks, 2005). This is a wonderful example of the
world's complexity—an issue that might be thought of as unrelated to the class becomes
related when teachers skillfully use these 'cases' as part of their curriculum.
In his work, “Meno,” Plato looks to the examination of knowledge. He uses
Socrates to guide Meno's slave toward an understanding of the area of a box and its
double. Socrates explains that the slave had the correct notions in his head, along with
incorrect ones, and that he just needed Socrates to ask the right questions to guide him
toward the answer. Plato (trans. 1995) explains through Socrates, “...there have been
always true thoughts in him ...which only needed to be awakened into knowledge by
putting questions to him.” (p. 16) This is an example of the teacher's role in a classroom,
it is not necessarily about telling students the correct answer, but rather allowing them to
see the answer after approaching it from different viewpoints.
Eaton et al. (2011) also wrestle with these concepts in the classroom. The answer
is a multi-faceted approach to learning, one which takes into account several different
aspects of the human experience. Learning is done cognitively, somatically, affectively,
and morally. This incorporates the rational-empirical aspect of knowledge with the
physical body, the feelings of students, and knowing the morally right path. They
outline this aspect because it allows for reflection in the classroom It also allows for
students to relate to subjects in different ways, which strengthens their understanding of a
subject and its connection to other subjects.
Another way that sustainable education is applied in the classroom is through
systems thinking. In his lecture, Rob Cole talks about the structures of systems thinking.
Issues can be thought of in a web-like pattern; they are not connected linearly, but rather
connect to multiple other issues or subjects. When something changes in one subject,
that change affects many other subjects (Cole, 9/28/11). This aligns with Eaton and her
fellow authors' concepts of sustainability education. All these aspects of the world and
the subjects within a classroom are connected to each other.
Through systems thinking, we can begin to view the world as a system of
interlocking parts that affect each other. Moving further down the scale, we can see how
the fundamentals of systems thinking apply to brain development. When information is
passed between neurons, they travel through dendrites and bridge the synaptic gap to
travel through the next neuron. When certain thoughts or activities have been practiced,
those pathways become mylenated—causing them to be easier for the person. However,
the person then becomes overly comfortable with one way of doing things and they close
themselves off to alternatives. When a person seeks other routes to answers, they are
challenging those pathways. As those alternative routes are strengthened, the dendrites
from the neurons branch out, allowing for quicker connections between neurons. The
dendrites also reach out toward multiple neurons, mimicking the web-like structure of
systems thinking (Walton, 9/27/11).
Referencing James E. Zull and his book The Art of Changing the Brain in her
lecture, Sherry Walton discusses the implications of these functions of the brain. If the
activity between neurons can change as we challenge ourselves to solve problems in
different ways, then we have power in the reconstruction of pathways in our brains.
Through this act, we are changing the way we perceive the interrelation of subjects.
It is important to keep these pathways open because they set the stage on a micro
level to the possibilities on a larger scale. If our brains are open to alternate routes to
solutions and can make connections between multiple different neurons, we can translate
that skill to the classroom through systems thinking, which uses the same non-linear
connection of ideas. This can translate even further to the whole concept of sustainability
education. With our brains already functioning in the interconnected manner that Walton
suggests, we are primed to be thinking systemically about issues of sustainability, which
are themselves part of a complex system. Eaton et al. (2011) speak of encouraging
students to see sustainability as a path, rather than a fixed state. This focuses an
importance on the process as well as the end state, mirroring the movement of
information through neurons.
An important thread that runs through these subjects is that of 'dis-equilibrium,'
which Parks (2005) explains as the state in which patterns are familiar but inadequate. In
order to reach a new, healthier equilibrium, we must move through the dis-equilibrium,
which contains frustration and confusion but leads to new knowledge and new behavior.
Parks (2005) and Eaton et al. (2011) both address the adaptive challenges facing
sustainability education, saying that they require more than surface changes, “They call
for changes of heart and mind.” (Parks, 2005, p. 7).
The dis-equilibrium within the classroom is also apparent in Parks' work (2005).
In the case-in-point teaching method, students may be confused when they initially see
the different aspects of a case. With the teacher's guidance, the students move through
the confusion and begin to understand how the case is related to the material in class and
other outside knowledge.
Dis-equilibrium also exists within Plato's Meno (trans. 1995). When Socrates is
guiding Meno's slave through the box puzzle, the slave gives the wrong answer when
trying to double the area of a square. When the slave believe he knows the answer, even
though it is wrong, he answers confidently. When he realizes that he does not know, he
is frustrated at his lack of knowledge. Socrates guides the slave through a series of
questions that helps the slave determine the answer. Socrates is not giving him more
information, he is allowing the slave to use his own knowledge to arrive at the correct
solution. The slave boy moves through dis-equilibrium to the correct answer.
We can also see dis-equilibrium within the neurons of the brain as well. When
one path has been mylenated too much, adjusting to another path can cause difficulty
moving information through neurons. It takes a while for the neurons to adjust, but after
the paths have been mylenated, they will be able to transfer information more efficiently.
Here again, we see the pattern of moving through the difficult period to a more
productive state.
When looking at interconnected systems move from the brain to the classroom
and into the conceptual sphere, we can see how the nature of a system is important to the
realization of a more sustainable world. Creating greater neuron connections in the brain,
using systems thinking and other teaching techniques in the classroom that utilize nonlinear thinking, and seeing education as a piece in a whole of world issues is the key
toward ultimately creating a more sustainable world.
References
Cole, R. Lecture 9/28/11.
Eaton, M., K. Davies, S. Williams, and J. MacGregor. (2011) Why Sustainability
Education Needs
Pedagogies of Reflection and Contemplation. 2-7.
Parks, S. D. (2005) Leadership for a changing world: A call to adaptive work. In
Leadership can be
taught (p. 1-12). Harvard Business School Press.
Plato, Meno. trans. Jowett, B. (1995). ILT Digital Classics. 13-17.
Walton, S. Lecture 9/27/11.
Zull, J. E. (2002). The art of changing the brain: Enriching the practice of teaching by
exploring the
biology of learning. Sterling, Virginia: Stylus.