Ecological/System Theory

1. Ecological/System Theory An Emerging Approach to Education

2. Theory: What’s the big deal? • Theory shapes how we understand, what we understand, and, consequently, how we solve (or fail to solve) problems.

3. Why I use this approach • I am interested in applying systems principles to schooling and educational problems. • Innovation: Learning to think about ideas and problems systemically.

4. Why Ecological Thinking? • Problem of Reductionism: Just looking at one thing at a time. • Ecological Thinking requires that we look at issues in terms of context, relatedness, and connections.

5. System Theory and Science • This is scientific, in that the usual rules of science apply. • The shift is a matter of focus: Instead of looking at parts, we look at how those parts affect and are affected by other parts. Relationships and context are very important.

6. System: A Definition • Complex of interacting elements. • Open to, and interact with their environment. • Acquire qualitatively properties new through emergence. • Constantly evolving. From Bertalanffy’s (1976) General Systems Theory

7. Application Bronfenbrenner’s Model.

8. Implications for Education • Rethinking the purposes of education. • Rethinking educational problems. • Rethinking the curriculum. • (Re)thinking power.

9. What are the purposes of education?

10. What problems do we face in education today?

11. What have you liked/disliked about your education so far? Do you feel empowered by your education?

12. Politics and education • How is educating someone a political act?

13. What we’re up against: • Culture devoid of meaning. • The media. • Decline of communities.

14. Consumerism • The idea that problems can be solved through material means, (i.e., buy stuff) • Problem this creates: A vicious cycle.

15. Other Implications: • Opens the possibility of using insights from both liberal and conservative perspectives. • Provides some synthesis of disparate theoretical orientations.