Learning in Systems

If children, the adolescents and adults that they will become, are to truly learn to think, design, create, and dream in systems, then they must be exposed at an early age to systems thinking. The complexity of systems thinking must grow over time in the child's long term memory. As this ongoing development of systems thinking in the child's long term memory combines with the emotional richness of learning through fairy tales, a synergy of learning is created.

Complexity does not imply difficulty; rather, complexity in this context involves a richness of capability and growth that begins with fun, fear and surprise through fairy tales at an early age. ZERI's agricultural and manufacturing systems offer wonderful examples of the emotional appeal and the elegance of an open system. If we share fairy tales of systems with children in an age appropriate fashion, then the critical concepts become part of the child's long term memory. The child can begin to see, dream, envision, and eventually design in systems. And, when a student has an intuitive grasp of the big picture, then the learning of the specific tools, concepts, and principles involved become far more real and appealing to the student. When students start with a story that integrates ethics, economics, biology, and mathematics; they will be drawn to learn those disciplines that are today often dismissed by students as boring or irrelevant. And as stand-alone subjects, they often are irrelevant as well.