"Like a Shot in the Arm": Systems Thinking Professional Development as Dialogic Learning

• In Event: Enhancing Teachers' Learning Through Discourse and Dialogue

Abstract

This research is part of an over-arching investigation on systems thinking professional development (PD) that is designed to be constructivist and project-based at one Title I elementary school. Systems thinking, a K-12 strand of the Next Generation Science Standards, is a problem-solving approach that connects social justice, economic prosperity, and environmental protection pursuits with comprehensive, workable, and creative solutions (Capra, 1996; Strachan, 2011). As teachers gained competence with the concept of interrelating systems (Senge, 2012) and utilized their understanding to develop lessons and projects, we noted three trends: 1) a mutual negotiation of the PD structure; 2) an integration of systems thinking practice with teachers’ existing expertise; and 3) a collaborative culture which served as both inspiration and support.

Authors

• Amy L. Ardell, Chapman University

• Margaret Sauceda Curwen, Chapman University

• Kimberly A. White-Smith, Chapman University

• Laurie MacGillivray, The University of Memphis