Exploring non-linear pedagogical approaches to ESDGC

Surrendering the belief that we can control nature

http://esd.escalate.ac.uk/palinks

‘Learning from nature and living systems.’‘Teaching as if we had surrendered the belief that we can control nature.’‘What would happen if we used the principles of living systems as tools for learning?’

Cyclical, cradle to cradle, feedback loops, dynamic systems, holistic

and so on in networks of micro-organisms, plants and animals living on the varied surfaces and environments of the planet, from tropical rain-forest to the bottom of the oceans, in a dynamic dance of life where diversity assures resilience.

In the natural world there isa cyclical flow of resources, with many feedback loops.

The waste from one living thing becomesthe food of anothersteother

The reality is that we are completely dependent on other people, animals, vegetation, fungi, microbes and viruses. No single person c

We are completely dependent on other people, animals, vegetation, fungi, microbes and viruses. We are completely dependent on others and the planet as a whole for the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the soil in which we grow most of our food. Where are the rights of the earth and all non-human life?

“Interdependence - the mutual dependence of all life processes on one another - is the nature of all ecological relationships.“(Capra F. 1997 )

Survival appears to depend on diversity

Diversity in all forms of life benefits survival and adaption to new challenges. Survival depends on the continued existence of diverse environment and habitat, culture, language, and so on. Human intervention in the natural world is too often at odds with this natural system. Instead of maintaining diversity, human activity too often involves a convergent approach that leads to decreased diversity, fewer species, cultures and languages.

thereisnoaway

There is some agreement that we need to think differently in trying to find a way to live with the planet rather than destroy it. We need a change of heart that helps us to see the planet’s resources as finite and that ‘there is no away’ for our waste.

We live in a world that cannot be described adequately using Euclidean geometry and a mechanistic, reductionist worldviewthe self-similarity shown in patterns of clouds, sand dunes, sea shores, coastlines, rivers, valleys and mountains, where systems function in ways that are non-linear, dynamic, ever changing. .

ISSUE / CHANGE

AwarenessWhat? Where? When?

Who?

ParticipationWhat can we do as

individuals and together? (avoids disempowerment,

helplessness)

EvaluationWhat ought/should?

(feelings, attitudes, values)

AnalysisHow? Why?

(cause/effect)

Affective domain

(Attitudes, values, feelings)

© Pratchett (1984, 2004, 2006)

What have you tried?

Feedback; Reflection on learning; Self-regulation;Collaboration, negotiation and partnership;

Participation and empowerment; Learning to learn and the restructuring of knowledge;

role-play simulation concept mapping,

braided learning problem based learning unconferences

building a wiki bridging cradle to cradle circle time

cycles critical incidents bio-mimicry

systems searching for nested systems and fractals

A non-linear approach to pedagogy opens up possibilities for creative work in a range of more interactive activities

There are three major tasks with which to engage. • To understand the dangers of trying to predict, manage and control our

relationship with the natural world in terms of linear models.

• To move away from behaviour that relies on linear models.

• To educate people to see the importance of adopting and adapting non-linear alternatives.

For educators this means asking some new questions about the impact of taking a non-linear approach:

• Can we describe teaching and learning in terms of non-linear approaches?• What kind of pedagogy might result?• What might happen to our worldview? • Will non-linear approaches to teaching and learning reveal the non-linear

paradigm to us?

We have been looking at and are reminded of:

Current• Tilbury D• Ryan A• Gayford C• Sterling S• Sugata Mitra• Stibbe A • Capra F• Webster K & Johnson C• Preston C• Pratchett S• Horton P

Recent• De Bono E• Feuerstein R• Gardner H• Gattegno C• Novak J. & Gowin D• Taylor J V• Illich I• Meadows et al• Papert S• Schumacher E F• Pike G & Selby D

Thank youHenry Liebling June 2011hliebling@googlemail.comhttp://esd.escalate.ac.uk/palinks

Would you like to contribute to this exploration?