The Settings > Restructuring > Why a Systems Approach?
Why a Systems Approach?
The systems approach dovetails very nicely with the systematic process in instructional design. In other words instructional design and systemic change work together because they both use systems approaches.
In order to effect systemic change you will need to start thinking in terms of the systems. For educational systemic change you will probably need to become intimately familiar with the interactions and systems involved in the educational arena. Here you will be provided with some of the basics of educational systems theory.
Components of the Educational System
Steiner (1988) described the educational system using four components:
- Teachers
- Students
- Content
- Context.
In this theory the teacher could directly or indirectly provide instruction. The student is someone seeking guidance from a teacher for learning. Content is what the student learns and context is where they learn it.
Interactions in the Educational System
Interactions between the four components of the educational system are really the heart of the matter when it comes to systemic educational change. The most prevalent form of education is often referred to as the industrial age schooling. In this schooling context and content are managed by stakeholders and the teacher provides direct instruction to the students. The diagram below is a simplified version noted in research by King & Frick (1999).
You can get a feeling how this linear process results in education in which the learner has very little control or feedback in the process. Think about how you could create new interactions that are different than the industrial age model. Do you think learners and teachers should have more control over content?
Sketch a few educational systems on some scratch paper. Think about the following questions while your are sketching your systems:
- Do you think your systems are better?
- Do you need to be more specific on your educational topics?
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