Systems Thinking in Education Special Interest Group

The 2019 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting Friday, April 5 - Tuesday, April 9

Toronto, Canada

The theme of the 2019 AERA Annual Meeting is “Leveraging Education Research in a ‘Post-Truth’ Era: Multimodal Narratives to Democratize Evidence”. AERA President Amy Stuart Wells, in her call for submissions, asks a number of questions:

“The question for education researchers is how, in a so-called ‘post-truth’ political era when evidence is shunted and emotion is exploited, can we make our research matter to lessen inequality and increase educational opportunities? How do we have an impact when our most conscientious methodology—measuring, understanding, and communicating material and experiential “realities”—is increasingly discredited by those who construct alternate truths to serve their agendas? Furthermore, how can   our findings speak to and of emotions such as fear and anxiety, which are regularly scapegoated onto the most marginalized individuals rather than attributed to their economic and social causes?”

The purpose of the Systems Thinking in Education SIG is to “focus on applications of systems thinking principles to address various issues in education” (Systems Thinking in Education website). This year’s theme “Leveraging Education Research in a ‘Post-Truth’ Era: Multimodal Narratives to Democratize Evidence” aligns well with the purpose of our SIG. How do we contribute to the charge of leveraging educational research to lessen inequality and increase educational opportunities through applications of systems thinking? In keeping with the Systems Thinking in Education SIG’s mission, we invite proposals that will contribute to our ongoing conversation about the use of systems thinking in research, evaluation, and applied practice in the areas of educational practice, policy, research, and professional preparation.

This year’s call encourages a wide range of proposals that span a diversity of issues, populations and contexts. We encourage field, applied, and evaluation research, as well as theoretically oriented studies of systems thinking in education. Equally valued is research that focuses on systems thinking as a basis for program development in educational settings that directly impact the lives of all students. Further to this, we encourage studies that examine the application of systems thinking in the design or redesign of educational systems that bring attention to ameliorating inequality in educational opportunity.

In the spirit of this year’s theme of leveraging educational research using multimodal narratives to democratize evidence, we encourage proposals that address:

• Field, applied, and evaluation research, as well as theoretically oriented studies of systems thinking in education with a particular interest in examples that demonstrate knowledge to action
• Design and development of educational settings that directly impact the lives of students by paying attention to inequality of educational opportunity
• Application of systems thinking in educator preparation programs that focus on the ethical underpinnings of providing all students with educational opportunities
• Applications of systems thinking in examining inquiry-based approaches and learning communities (communities of practice) within schools and related educational settings
• Studies that examine the use of systems thinking in policy development and analysis
• Methodologies for research and program evaluation that utilize systems theories and systems thinking as a basis for research design that addresses renewed attention to inequality in education
• Discussion around the intersection of systems-based research and the application of findings to policy and practice. At a time of increasing emphasis on change and reform in educational policy and practice, how does systems thinking influence and inform research, evaluation, and practice? How can research informed by systems theory be leveraged as evidence in a democracy?
• Presentation of theoretical and applied research approaches that have used systems theory to analyze and interpret findings, draw conclusions, and offer recommendations
• Presentation of practice-based programs and pedagogical approaches at both the whole school and classroom levels that used systems theory as a basis for design and implementation
• Curricular or pedagogical approaches that emphasize/utilize systems theory as a basis for student learning about systems and/or using systems thinking approaches to learning.

The Systems Thinking in Education SIG prides itself in offering a welcoming venue for papers, discussion roundtables, symposia, and posters that draw on transdisciplinary theories and constructs, integrated methods, and research approaches that aim to answer a breadth of questions from causal to interpretive/descriptive. The program chair invites submissions for papers, discussion roundtables, symposia, and posters from both established and emerging scholars from a diverse set of institutions and geographical regions, domestic and international. Individuals undertaking research that is not supported with external funding are particularly encouraged to submit their proposals to the Systems Thinking in Education SIG. Please be aware that proposals must be submitted electronically by using the AERA Online Proposal Submission System at http://www.aera.net/

THE SUBMISSION SYSTEM CLOSES at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time) on JULY 23, 2018.

A few reminders:

• For both paper and session submissions, only submissions that have not been published or presented at another professional meeting are eligible for review.
• Submissions for papers, discussion/roundtables, and posters must be in the form of a narrative paper.
• No individual may appear as first author on more than two submissions, and an individual may not appear on the program more than four times.
• A paper or session submission must not contain any references to the paper’s authors, and each submission may be submitted to only a single committee, division, or SIG.

Additional information can be found at the 2019 Annual Meeting and the Call for Submissions webpages located on http://www.aera.net/.

If you have specific questions, please feel free to contact the 2019 Systems Thinking in Education SIG Program Chair, Miriam Ezzani, University of North Texas (miriam.ezzani@unt.edu) or Program Chair-Elect, Noelle Paufler, University of North Texas (noelle.paufler@unt.edu)