April 1, 2014
Dear Systems Thinking in Education SIG Members,
AERA is almost upon us! For those of you joining us in Philadelphia, please do plan to join us for the SIG events we’ve planned for this year’s annual meeting. But, first, we’d like to share our work priority for the SIG in this coming year:
SIG Priority for 2014-2015: Creating a Community of Practice in Systems Thinking
A priority for the Systems Thinking in Education SIG for 2014 is the promotion of opportunities for shared learning and professional connection among SIG members to advance knowledge of systems theory and the application of systems thinking and systems approaches to educational research, design, and practice.
To that end, we have specifically developed this year’s SIG program to provide opportunities for members to engage in thinking and discussion around issues pertaining to the development and use of methodological frameworks based on systems thinking that can enable researchers and practitioners to study educational change and reform efforts across time and multiple contexts.
In particular, we have structured our Saturday invited session, as well as the business meeting, as facilitated discussions focused on eliciting your thoughts and ideas about the role of systems thinking in shaping educational research and practice in the 21st century and the role of the SIG in supporting your work. Our goal is to use the expressed ideas and concerns shared during the conference as a basis for developing targeted opportunities that will be sponsored by the SIG and that will provide opportunities for SIG members to connect and work together between annual meetings.
Here are the sessions we’ve planned for you this year:
Saturday, April 5th
Session 49.090
Special Invited Session: "When Evidence-Based Meets Reality: The Role of Systems Thinking in Educational Research and Practice in the 21st Century"
2:45-4:15 pm, Marriott, Fourth Level, Franklin 7
http://tinyurl.com/lznodwp
Featuring: Royce Holladay of the Human Systems Dynamics Institute and Leslie Patterson from the University of North Texas
Join us for a lively discussion using Adaptive Action techniques to explore the role of systems thinking in educational change and reform initiatives (see link to attached handout at the end of this message). Using the move to Common Core as a starting point, Dr. Holladay and Dr. Patterson will challenge participants to explore how systems thinking can be integrated into research and practice to better understand complex relationships, explore interconnections, seek out influential points of influence for leveraging change, and surface the multiple perspectives that shape the systems we work in. View the handout for this session.
Session 51.055
Systems Thinking in Education SIG Business Meeting: “What Now? Exploring Future Directions for Systems Thinking in Educational Research and Practice”
6:30 to 8:00pm, Marriott, Fourth Level, Franklin 11
http://tinyurl.com/kmouryx
Featuring: Royce Holladay of the Human Systems Dynamics Institute and Leslie Patterson from the University of North Texas
During last year’s business meeting, we discussed the SIG – what is our focus, who are our members, what is our fight? Facilitated by Dr. Holladay and Dr. Patterson, we’ll continue this conversation exploring how the SIG and its members can engage in promoting systems thinking as a critical paradigm for engaging in research and program design in education and what the SIG can do to provide opportunities for shared learning and professional connection among SIG members outside the annual meeting. One possibility: designing a SIG-sponsored research conference to be held during 2015.
Sunday, April 6th
Session 59.082
Paper Session: “Systems Thinking as a Paradigm for Understanding Teaching and Learning”
12:25 to 1:55pm, Marriott, Fourth Level, 415
http://tinyurl.com/k9y7jkg
The three papers being presented apply the lens of systems thinking to understanding the dynamics of teaching and learning in three diverse contexts: clinical reasoning in therapeutic practice, STEM workforce development, and cognitive processes of classroom teaching.
Thank you for your support over this past year. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in Philadelphia!
Sincerely,
Your Systems Thinking in Education SIG leadership team
Bill Watson, Co-Chair
Purdue University
Jan Noga, Co-Chair
Pathfinder Evaluation and Consulting
Sunny Watson, Secretary
Purdue University
Kathleen Crowley, Program Chair
George Washington University
Chad Green, Webmaster
Loudon County (VA) Public Schools