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<\/a><\/p>\nFigure1 – A Students’ System<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWorldview<\/p>\n
While I will return to\u00a0the others I would like to define and describe the concept of
\n\u201cworldview\u201d before going on further. Simply a student\u2019s\u00a0worldview is their view of their place in the world. Webster\u2019s\u00a0Online Dictionary defines \u201cworldview\u201d by linking to the German\u00a0word \u201cweltanschauung\u201d which is defined as \u201ca comprehensive\u00a0conception or apprehension of the world especially from a specific\u00a0standpoint\u201d (weltanschauung, n.d.). Dr. Mike Markowski (2008) of\u00a0Westminster College writes that worldview allows each of us to makes\u00a0sense of ourselves, our place in the world and the reality, value and\u00a0meaning of what is surrounding us. Markowski continues by writing\u00a0that:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Worldview embraces and reflects the
\ntruth\/reality that connects reality to self. It influences thought
\nand action, feeling and future, growing and understanding. It
\nencompasses the interpretation of what was, what is, what will be; it
\ncenters on existence (ontology), becoming (progress), activity
\n(assumptions that direct action) and how we know what we know
\n(epistemology). It identifies meaning, purpose and a notion of right
\nand wrong \u2013 of \u2018What I ought to do, and what I most definitely
\nshould NOT do\u2019 \u2013 morality and\/or ethics (\u00b62).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
There are many worldviews that have\u00a0been documented; looking at the titles of books on my desk right now\u00a0I can see an \u201cEcological Worldview\u201d, a \u201cScientific Worldview\u201d,\u00a0a \u201cChristian Worldview\u201d, and a \u201cClassic Worldview.\u201d All of\u00a0these views have something in common: they are in the eye of the\u00a0beholder, of the person that is evaluating their own place in\u00a0reality. Got Questions Ministries (2008) offers one of the best\u00a0explanations for worldview that I have been able to find:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
An individual\u2019s worldview is his
\n\u201cbig picture,\u201d a medley of all his beliefs about the world. It is
\nhis way of understanding reality. A worldview is the basis for daily
\ndecisions and is therefore extremely important. \u201cAn apple sitting
\non a table is seen by several people. A botanist looking at the apple
\nsees an \u201cangiospermous pome\u201d and classifies it. An artist sees a
\nstill life and draws it. A grocer sees an asset and inventories it. A
\nchild sees lunch and eats it. How we look at any situation is
\ninfluenced by how we look at the world at large\u201d (\u00b62).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Sam Weaver (2003) goes\u00a0on to write that a person\u2019s worldview is based on four institutions\u00a0or beliefs and that all intelligent thought is based on personal
\npolitical, scientific, religious, and economic beliefs.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
How a student looks at their role in\u00a0the classroom has the same principle as the apple in the above\u00a0example. A student who has been raised and nurtured to accept
\neducation as a challenge will walk into a class and think of it as a\u00a0challenge to succeed. A student who has been moved from grade to\u00a0grade and has been told he is a failure will look at education as\u00a0something to \u201cput up with\u201d and just slide through. A student who
\nhas been consistently told that he or she will not succeed and will\u00a0never amount to anything may feel exactly that same way when it comes\u00a0to education because that is his worldview or his outlook on life.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nThis worldview or outlook on life affects motivation, and motivation\u00a0effects success and education. There are a number of different\u00a0documented worldviews and the first one I want to look at is the\u00a0classical worldview.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Classical\u00a0Worldview<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
The classical worldview\u00a0began with the scientific revolution that began in the 16<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup>
\n\u2013 18<\/span>th\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>centuries. This scientific revolution included advances in astronomy,\u00a0mathematics, mechanics, and optics. In the 19<\/span>th\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>century these sciences where added to and now included the study of\u00a0magnetism, electricity, and heat. In the late 19<\/span>th\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>century more the study of geology and chemistry was added and began\u00a0the \u201csecond scientific revolution.\u201d The studies in biology,\u00a0electricity, mechanics, chemistry and magnetism led to the discovery\u00a0of electromagnetic induction and field theory. Once scientists\u00a0realized that electricity and light moved at the same speed they\u00a0realized a unity between electricity and light and thus the natural\u00a0world. By the mid 1880\u2019s this new realization became an\u00a0intellectual understanding of the unity of the physical world and\u00a0this is the \u201cClassical Worldview\u201d (Corse, 2003).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Corse (2003) writes that the\u00a0classical worldview has four elements: space, matter, ether, and\u00a0energy. In the classical worldview space and time are uniform and an\u00a0absolute. Time flows at a constant rate. Matter is made up of\u00a0chemical atoms without any interior parts and these atoms can be\u00a0combined to form complex chemicals but atoms cannot be divided. Ether\u00a0is the realization that electricity flows in waves; this electricity
\nhas patterns and light. The energy is built from Newton\u2019s study of\u00a0mechanics. The motions of the atoms, the molecules and even larger\u00a0objects can be understood. The first law of thermodynamics is a part\u00a0of the classical worldview, all forms of energy: light, heat,\u00a0magnetism, chemical, and mechanical can be converted into each other.\u00a0Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. The classical worldview\u00a0evolved and soon became a scientific worldview.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Scientific\u00a0Worldview<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
The scientific worldview is based on\u00a0fact. Bessinger (2002) explains that this worldview makes a\u00a0distinction between knowledge (fact) and opinion. This scientific
\nworldview is developed based on a system of developing a hypothesis\u00a0and then confirming it with repeated experimentation. \u201cThe\u00a0scientific worldview characteristically seeks to reject data from the\u00a0psyche because of the difficulty in developing experimental
\nconfirmation. It prefers to deal with material objects\u201d (\u00b67). The\u00a0scientific worldview has a difficulty time dealing with social\u00a0sciences; it is difficult to experiment when there are people with\u00a0different worldviews involved. In past history the problems with\u00a0Mental Illness were largely untouched because of the scientific\u00a0worldview. The scientific worldview is the one found in academics,\u00a0and has also found its way into public affairs and policy.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Orr (2006) writes that \u201cstripped to\u00a0it\u2019s minimum a scientific worldview consists strictly of\u00a0falsifiable components\u201d (pg. 437). Because a scientific worldview\u00a0is based solely on \u201cideas that can be tested with empirical\u00a0observation\u201d (pg. 437) it is limited in usefulness. According to\u00a0Orr the limits come from two reasons. \u201cFirst many of the\u00a0falsifiable ideas cannot be tested completely until their\u00a0repercussions already have been felt; second, the reach of sciences\u00a0is limited, and ethics, which compose an inevitable part of any\u00a0useful worldview, are largely un-falsifiable\u201d (pp. 437-438).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
There is a problem with the\u00a0scientific worldview in that it does not allow for peoples beliefs.\u00a0An individual may have the ability change their future by believing\u00a0in something, as positive thought is extremely powerful in\u00a0motivation. For example the group Alcoholics Anonymous teaches that\u00a0the Alcoholic can stop drinking by willpower given to them by a\u00a0strong belief in God or a Higher Power. The scientific worldview does\u00a0not allow for this belief, it would have to be a proven fact that God\u00a0exists for the scientific worldview to accept the teachings of\u00a0Alcoholics Anonymous.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
There is another worldview however\u00a0that is not based on science but rather on faith and leadership; this\u00a0worldview is the Christian worldview. Faith, unlike science, can
\ncontain falsehoods and beliefs; faith does not have to be \u201cprovable\u201d\u00a0and can be based on assumptions or myths.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Christian\u00a0Worldview<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Weaver (2003) writes that religions\u00a0around the world begin with two components. Each \u201ctrue\u201d religion\u00a0explains the beginning (or origin) of life and they also have what\u00a0Weaver refers to as an \u201cethic.\u201d The ethic is a moral code or a\u00a0set of rules that one must live by. Weaver points out that a person’s\u00a0religion is the base for their beliefs of what is true and real and\u00a0that this truth influences the person’s life more than any other
\nconcept.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Got Questions Ministries (2008)\u00a0explains that a Christian worldview starts with the basic questions\u00a0that all worldviews must answer: First where did we come from, then\u00a0what is wrong with the world, and third can we fix it? The Christian\u00a0worldview answers those questions simply: we are a creation of God,\u00a0second we sinned against God and subjected the world to a curse, and\u00a0third, God sacrificed His Son, Jesus Christ in order to redeem the\u00a0world and will one day restore the world to it\u2019s prior pristine\u00a0state. \u201cA Christian worldview leads us to believe in moral\u00a0absolutes, miracles, human dignity, and the possibility of\u00a0redemption\u201d (\u00b67).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
The Christian Worldview is the\u00a0backbone of most formal religion in the world. For example the\u00a0leaders of the Catholic Church; from the Pope on down to the Parish\u00a0Priest have established a framework for leadership. Through this\u00a0framework they distribute the \u201cfaith-based\u201d knowledge that they\u00a0want the believers to have access to and they conceal the scientific\u00a0knowledge that may bring questions to this knowledge. One of the\u00a0issues we have seen most often is the conflict between the Christian\u00a0worldview and the scientific worldview is in the issue of Evolution\u00a0vs. the \u201cBig Bang Theory.\u201d The Christian worldview teaches us, in\u00a0various ways, that God created the world over a period of six days,\u00a0and on the seventh day He rested. The scientific worldview teaches us\u00a0that the planet and the life forms on the planet evolved over time\u00a0and that is how we became who we are. The debate is over what we\u00a0teach future generations of children in the schools. Many of the\u00a0public schools have only taught evolution and the parochial schools\u00a0teach the faith-based approach. Which is correct? It appears it is up\u00a0to the community to make that decision as many communities have\u00a0decided not to teach the scientific approach but rather the\u00a0faith-based over the last few years.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Ecological\u00a0Worldview<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
While the Christian worldview may be
\none person\u2019s view of the world there are others. One of these could be the ecological worldview. Krebs (2008) defines ecology as being\u00a0based upon the \u201cscientific study of interactions that determine the\u00a0distribution and abundance of organisms\u201d (pg. 2). Krebs writes that\u00a0the ecological worldview is based upon five guiding principles. The\u00a0first is that no component of an ecological system stands alone.\u00a0Altering one component, such as changing the water flow in a river\u00a0will affect other components of the system. A dam could affect crop\u00a0growth, fish, and people downstream, as they are dependent on the
\nwater. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThe second principle of the\u00a0ecological worldview is that human actions can have long lasting\u00a0impact. One of the greatest examples of this is the effect that the\u00a0\u201cCold War\u201d nuclear manufacturing has had on areas such as\u00a0Washington State. For around fifty years humans used land in\u00a0Washington to manufacture weapons. They dumped hazardous waste into\u00a0the river, buried it in the ground, and did so without thought to the\u00a0future. Now, the residents of those areas are left with a ecological\u00a0disaster that they must clean up. This has affected the fish in the\u00a0river, the animals who used to live on the land, and the people who\u00a0live close by. Another example of this second principle could be\u00a0looking at global warming. Out industrial age has pumped tons of\u00a0carbon into the atmosphere as we grew industry and the life we know\u00a0today. The effects of this greenhouse gas are changing the climate.\u00a0As the world warms we are seeing species such as the polar bear
\nnearing extinction and it is not an easily reversible trend.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
This brings us to the third principle\u00a0that as humans we can learn from history. If we could have looked\u00a0back to the extinction of dinosaurs almost 10,000 years ago and
\nlearned what caused the climate changes that caused this we may be\u00a0able to prevent our extinction in the future. It is also possible\u00a0that we are repeating medical practices that are going to lead to\u00a0another plague by not allowing people to build up their own immunity\u00a0to diseases.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
The fourth principle tells us that\u00a0conservation is essential. We need to learn how to use our resources\u00a0better. One example of this that Krebs (2008) writes about is the
\nhuman food supply. We use almost 15 percent of the world for our\u00a0food. This is 15 percent of the world that cannot be used by other\u00a0species that also play an important role in the ecology. This brings\u00a0us back to the example of the river. Without water, the fish, the
\nplants, and the animals that rely on the water cannot survive.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
The fifth principle for the\u00a0ecological worldview is that evolution continues. Krebs (2008) points\u00a0out that when we add antibiotics to food, use pesticides to control
\ninsect populations, select certain plants for growth we in turn are\u00a0selecting bacteria and insects that can survive those antibiotics and\u00a0pesticides and survive on the plants of our choosing. This allows\u00a0these species to evolve and grow stronger while perhaps the weaker of\u00a0them will die off. Our medical community has already observed this\u00a0with the resistance of certain bacteria to penicillin. While a person\u00a0with a Christian worldview looks at their daily lives and makes\u00a0decisions based upon the Bible and the \u201cWord of God\u201d the person
\nwith an \u201cecological worldview\u201d may base their decisions and their\u00a0lives upon these five principles and the health of the ecology around\u00a0them.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Worldview\u00a0Creation<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Worldviews are changing. Newman\u00a0(1995) writes that a worldview is learned through cultural\u00a0upbringings and cohorts, such as the peers of a student attending
\nschool. A worldview is a collective look at the world around a\u00a0person; it is not an individual\u2019s personal look. Vidal and Riegler\u00a0(2007) write, \u201cWorldview construction is always connected to a\u00a0culture in which \u2018meanings\u2019 are circulated, types of behavior are
\npassed from generation to generation, socio-political problems are\u00a0produced, and styles of art confront us\u201d (pg. 9). Because a\u00a0worldview is somewhat related to culture it is always in a process of\u00a0change. New worldviews can start from a cultural change, new
\ngeneration, a new sub-culture, or a new concept of reality. \u201cThey\u00a0are not just a reflection of \u2018what everybody thinks\u2019\u201d (pg. 9).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Is it possible for humans to affect a\u00a0persons\u2019 or a cultures outlook on the world, or worldview? We do\u00a0not have to look further for the answer than the current Presidential
\nrace in the United States. The nomination of an African American for\u00a0the office of President of the United States is an historical\u00a0achievement and has the possibility to alter the worldview of the\u00a0entire African American culture in the United States. The children
\ngrowing up in some of the poorer, and challenged parts of the country\u00a0may begin to realize that anything is possible; rather than continue\u00a0to believe that they will never be able to make a difference.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
System\u00a0Theory<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Another view of the\u00a0world, or an extension of worldview is that of systems theory. System\u00a0theory was proposed in the 1940\u2019s by Ludwig von Bertalanffy and\u00a0continued by Ross Ashby (1956). System theory has led to system\u00a0thinking and has become more popular over time. System theory is\u00a0defined as: \u201cthe trans-disciplinary study of the abstract\u00a0organization of phenomena, independent of their substance, type, or
\nspecial or temporal scale of existences. It investigates both the\u00a0principles common to all complex entities and the (usually \u00a0mathematical) models which can be used to describe them\u201d (Heylighen\u00a0& Joslyn, 1992). An example of the system is the human body. Von
\nBertalanffy (1940\u2019s) proposed that rather than to take the human\u00a0body and divide it into the individual components, such as cells,\u00a0tissue, and organs; system theory studies the arrangement and\u00a0interaction of all the components of the body. Heylighen and Joslyn
\n(1992) explain that systems concepts include: system-environment\u00a0boundary, input, output, process, state, hierarchy,\u00a0goal-directedness, and information. System theory has been used in\u00a0multiple disciplines such as mathematics, engineering, social
\nstudies, ecological studies (forms a basis for the ecological\u00a0worldview), and education. The root of this theory is that nothing\u00a0stands alone and everything is linked.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
For the \u201cnet generation\u201d the most\u00a0basic type of system is the Internet, or the Net. It is a link that\u00a0almost no one can live without. The \u201cnet generation\u201d grew up with
\nthe Internet and has used it since they can remember, most of them\u00a0before they even where in school. The Internet is a system and thus\u00a0can be evaluated through the use of system theory. The Internet has\u00a0an every changing system-environment boundary and is rapidly\u00a0expanding. It has inputs through browsers, appliances, cell phones,\u00a0terminals, and voice applications. It has outputs through monitors,\u00a0automation, voice response, pagers, text messages and printers. It\u00a0has processes that make decisions, retrieve information and store\u00a0information. It has state (on-line or off-line) and it is\u00a0hierarchical, as the end user must subscribe to an ever-increasing\u00a0level of service providers (\u201cJoe\u201d must have an ISP that services\u00a0his home, the ISP must have a main provider and that main provider
\nmust be linked to the root servers). Information is received and\u00a0supplied and is the retrieving or contributing to that information is\u00a0the goal of using the Internet. If the information is suddenly gone\u00a0(or corrupt) the network would not be the same. If the destination\u00a0address no longer responds to the query (or input) the network folds.
\nIf suddenly China shuts off the feed for the journalists covering the\u00a0Olympics the network has suddenly changed it\u2019s boundary and the\u00a0network is no longer the same. The Internet is one example of a\u00a0system that has grown so complex it is no longer map able.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Effect\u00a0of Worldviews<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Worldviews do not stand-alone. Many\u00a0worldviews can co-exist together and offer \u201clenses\u201d for people to\u00a0observe and evaluate different situations through. It is possible for
\nan individual to have a primary lens with many axis that offer\u00a0different views. Bessinger (2002) writes that as an individual we may\u00a0look at one situation with a \u201cprimary lens\u201d and then look at each\u00a0side of the problem with a different \u201ccolor\u201d lens to see the
\nwhole picture. A great example of these multiple worldviews comes in\u00a0this election year. The voter may look at the candidate through their\u00a0primary worldview that may be religious (Christian), but there is\u00a0also political, social, ecological, and economic axis to this view,\u00a0which should aid in deciding the best candidate. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
A worldview can also\u00a0affect education; it affects what is taught, how it is taught, who\u00a0receives the instruction and what the accepted norms are. Here in\u00a0North America there are multiple worldviews involved in education and\u00a0they determine (or at least help determine) education styles. There\u00a0are many styles of education some determined by locality, some by\u00a0school districts, and some by university boards. For comparison sake\u00a0I want to focus on two educational styles: Western based education\u00a0and Indigenous education. Senge (2006), whom first developed the idea\u00a0of system thinking in 1992, writes that Western education starts at\u00a0an early age when we are taught that problems can be broken apart and\u00a0separated and then dealt with individually. This allows us to make\u00a0complex problems more manageable but it also teaches us to fragment\u00a0the world. Western education teaches us to separate these problems,\u00a0and use the appropriate worldview to analyze them. In schools we use\u00a0literature to understand the past, we read from the works of the\u00a0historians. We learn about mathematics by breaking down every problem\u00a0into individual tasks and then reassembling the outcomes to form an\u00a0answer. We move on and learn about race, culture and society in late\u00a0high school or college through required courses. The educational\u00a0system has made it a point to isolate each part of life into a\u00a0subject or course. Once that course is over the contents may become\u00a0part of the thought process of for other courses but once again it is\u00a0compartmentalized and not spoken about again. Western education,\u00a0until quite recently, did not recognize the environment and the\u00a0effects of culture on the learning process. Once the student arrived
\nat school everyone was the same. The schools job was to teach the\u00a0reading, writing, and mathematics that the student would need in\u00a0their future. It was left up to others to fill in the societal\u00a0aspects of life.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Indigenous education takes a\u00a0different view of the whole educational process. According to\u00a0Kanonhsionni (2002) Indigenous education has approached curriculum
\ndevelopment in a different way. The Indigenous people approach curriculum by looking at the knowledge of their ancestors rather than\u00a0the Western history. Then they begin the education of their children\u00a0at a very young age and instilled the cultural values to help develop\u00a0a cultural identity. Then indigenous education continues with\u00a0fluently learning the language. Then they teach the non-Indigenous\u00a0relationships and teach about the players and the issues that arose\u00a0from these relationships. Indigenous education then continues to\u00a0teach both through literature and on the land. \u201cWe end where we\u00a0begin; full circle\u201d (pg. 281).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
So what makes the two approaches so\u00a0different? The Indigenous people have acknowledged the system of\u00a0life: the land, the language, the culture, the traditions, and the\u00a0environment as a part of education. While in the Western based\u00a0education our students, and our children are busy taking their math,\u00a0their sciences, their English classes the Indigenous students are\u00a0learning about the world as a system and understanding their place in\u00a0that system with respect to the past, the future, the land, and the\u00a0culture. When they mature and take their place in the adult\u00a0population they will have a much clearer picture of the system of\u00a0life.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Looking back on these\u00a0two paths to education, the Western and the Indigenous, we can see\u00a0how each culture would develop a different view of the world. The\u00a0Western view, the breaking apart of the subjects; the separation of\u00a0the math\u2019s, the sciences, the school, and the social life will be\u00a0very fragmented. The children raised and educated in this worldview,\u00a0or fragmentation, sometimes do not have \u201cthe whole picture.\u201d The\u00a0education of the Indigenous peoples combines the past, the ancestry,\u00a0the language, the culture, the literature, and the land into a\u00a0complete picture. The community is involved in their education thus\u00a0there is a more complete, or holistic, view of the world and life\u00a0around them. The Indigenous people have acknowledged and embraced\u00a0life and learning as a system.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
If we look back at Figure 1, the\u00a0factors that affect a student\u2019s education, we can see that these\u00a0same factors also affect their worldview or outlook on life. It is\u00a0common knowledge that the students\u2019 outlook on their life will\u00a0affect their motivation as well as their prior education. I believe\u00a0that the overview of what a system is; how worldviews can affect a\u00a0person; and how things that affect a person can affect their\u00a0education allow me to propose that education is a system that is\u00a0based many factors in a student\u2019s life, including worldview. In\u00a0describing the various worldviews and some of the beliefs that are a\u00a0part of them, as well as the knowledge that no two students have the\u00a0same cultural, religious, and ethnical makeup allow us also to\u00a0conclude that each student\u2019s worldview might be slightly different\u00a0than any other student\u2019s because no two students have an identical\u00a0life and in order to understand this we must practice system\u00a0thinking.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
System Thinking<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
In education if an\u00a0instructor or administrator is able to look beyond the obvious \u2013
\nwhat happens with the student in the classroom \u2013 and is able to\u00a0look at all the interactions between education, the student, their\u00a0lives and their worldview they could be labeled a system thinker\u00a0because they are practicing what is known as system thinking. Peter\u00a0Senge (2006) describes system thinking in his book, <\/span>The\u00a0Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization\u00a0<\/span><\/span>when he writes:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
A cloud masses, the sky darkens,\u00a0leaves twist upward, and we <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nknow that it will rain. We also know the
\nstorm runoff will feed into the groundwater miles away, and the sky
\nwill clear by tomorrow. All these events are distant in time and
\nspace, and yet they are all connected within the same pattern. Each
\nhas an influence on the rest, an influence that is usually hidden
\nfrom view. You can only understand the system of a rainstorm by
\ncontemplating the whole, not any individual part of the pattern (pp.
\n6-7).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Senge (2006) goes on to write about\u00a0the role and importance of system thinking in organizations such as\u00a0businesses as well as all other facets of life when he writes that:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Businesses and other human endeavors
\nare also systems. They, too, are bound by invisible fabrics of
\ninterrelated actions, which often take years to fully play out their
\neffects on each other. Since we are part of that lacework ourselves,
\nit’s doubly hard to see the whole pattern of change. Instead, we tend
\nto focus on snapshots of isolated parts of the system, and wonder why
\nour societies deepest problems never seem to get solved. System
\nthinking is a conceptual framework, a body of knowledge and tools
\nthat has been developed over the past fifty years, to make full
\npatterns clearer, and to help us see how to change them effectively
\n(pp. 6-7).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
In his explanation of system\u00a0thinking and systems Senge supports my premise that a students\u2019\u00a0education is based on the many facets of their lives and that the\u00a0path a student takes is based on a system that they may have been led\u00a0into but they, themselves helped create. If these conclusions are\u00a0valid we can do one of two things. We can ask our selves how do we\u00a0intervene in this system to alter the students\u2019 worldview and offer\u00a0them a chance to change their own future? Or we can do nothing and\u00a0just let the past and present affect the future. I know I started\u00a0teaching so that I can make a difference in peoples lives, so I know\u00a0I must intervene and be able to help someone change their future.\u00a0While there are several methods of intervention the one I would like\u00a0to address first is soft systems methodology.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n