Why Systems Thinking

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Welcome . . .
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Why Systems Thinking?

• Dr. Mary B. Gunter
• Arkansas Tech University
• Arkansas ASCD

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AASCD 2008 Summer Conference

• Building Leadership Capacity for Sustained
  School Improvement
• 
  - Linda Lambert

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Reflective Prompt . . .

• What are the systems that prevent you from
  being an instructional leader in your school?

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Systems Thinking

• The interrelationships of the parts to
• the whole.
• Its about moving beyond collegiality.
• It is about thinking collectively.

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Moving Beyond . . .

• Collegiality to Collaboration

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Engaging In . . .

• Deep Thinking for Collective Action

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The Edge

• When Systems come together
• It is exciting!

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The Edge

• Disruptive and Chaotic
• (Chaos Theory)

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New System Formation

• With Chaos Systems on the Edge can form new
  Systems

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Systems ThinkingIn Review . . .

• First Coined after World War II as a study of
  the complex communications systems that were in
  place. What worked?
• What didnt work?

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1990s . . .

• The Fifth Discipline (1990)
• - Peter
  Senge, Doubleday
• Organizational Structures
• Policies
• Processes
• Interrelationships
• Time Delays between Cause and Effect

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Rick DeFour

• Professional Learning Communities About
  systems
• Building capacity of individuals within the
  system to direct their own learning and improve
  schools through their collective action

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Table Talk Prompt

• Are we plagued by the lack of answers?
• Or is the problem our inability to understand and
  successfully implement?

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Professional Development

• Looking at systems to support and to sustain
  professional development.

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Job Embedded PD

• Professional Development that occurs within
  the context of the work.

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Best Practices

• Some Practices Travel
• Some Practices Dont Travel.

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National Diffusion Network (NDN)

• Did the innovation meet the proposed student
  outcome objective(s)?
• Could data be provided documenting the specific
  conditions were objectives could be met?
• Can the innovation be replicated under similar
  circumstances at other sites?
• Is it cost effective?
• Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval

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What We Learned?

• Throwing money at problems doesnt fix anything.
• Adopting a practice because it worked for someone
  else does not guarantee results for you.
• There are no silver
  bullets.
• Teachers burn-out due to our implementation zest.
  Some implementation efforts are good some are
  not so good.

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Essential Question

• What is systems thinking?

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Systems

• A system is complex.
• It is made of parts that have an
  interrelationship to make the system work and
  achieve its objective.

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Example . . .

• The Human Body

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The Heart . . .
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Table Talk Prompt

• What systems need to be in place to support
  job-embedded Professional Development?

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The Brain . . .
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Table Talk Prompt

• As a leader what leverage do you need to move
  systems to work together to support successful
  Professional Development?

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The Leadership Leverage

• Teacher Time
• Teacher Assignment
• Teacher Collaboration
  
• -
  Doug Reeves, 2009

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Final Thoughts . . .

• Systems are HUGE and COMPLEX.
• There is an URGENCY to move FORWARD.
• The Bureaucracy is created to maintain ITSELF.
• Some Things WILL apart.
• Put the STATUS QUO on NOTICE.

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Final Thoughts (Continued)

• Use TIME WISLEY.
• Strive to CONTRIBUTE and COMPLETE the SYSTEM.
• Become a SYSTEM THINKER.
• Build NETWORKS.
• Remember the importance of educating the WHOLE
  CHILD.

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• Break . . .