A linear thinker, a design thinker and a systems thinker walk into a bar…
They talk about the future of learning.
This article directly borrows its premise from Houda Boulahbel’s article of the same title, “A linear thinker, a design thinker and a systems thinker walk into a bar…” (2022). Here, I recast the same three thinkers to discuss what’s next in learning instead.
The linear thinker pulls out last year’s curriculum and questions, “what can I change for next year?” She briefly considers changing the overarching subjects, but mostly she’s focused on updating the content to make sure it’s relevant for next year’s cohort.
She shares her ideas with the others: she’ll update the reading list to include a fantastic piece of research published this year, edit the slides to replace old examples with current news, re-work one of her lesson plans after feedback from a group of students, and perhaps also incorporate a tiktok video or two to engage her learners better. “I probably should include AI somewhere too,” she says.
The design thinker brings to the table her research on her current learners, past learners and future learners. Every year, she asks them: “What are you most excited about?”, “What challenges are you facing?”, and “What support do you need?”.
From this, she’s designed a new curriculum. “It’s three-pronged,” she says. “First, it uses a hybrid, modular learning model to offer the hyper-flexibility that students want. Second, it incorporates a compulsory experiential team-based learning component to build the skills and confidence people need to work with uncertainty and change.” She takes a sip of her drink, and then continues: “Third, we’ve developed an in-house programme to continuously train our staff on subjects like Artificial Intelligence so that we’re better equipped to respond to learner wants and needs.”
The systems thinker remembers a quote from her idol and inspiration, Peter Senge: “We tend to think that cause and effect will be relatively near to one another. Thus when faced with a problem, it is the ‘solutions’ that are close by that we focus upon.” So she considers what solutions might be further away.
“Imagine a school where all the learners, teachers and staff had a shared vision for a regenerative world. And they each felt empowered to learn and act towards that future.” She pauses to feel the chills on her arm. “The boundary of the school is permeable, practically non-existent, so students learn from a network of relationships and experiences in and outside of the school.” Feeling excited (and a little tipsy), she adds: “And if I were starting this school, I’d include in the application process a task to draw a system map with two compulsory elements… themselves, and AI!”
Which approach do you lean towards?
Houda Boulahbel’s view is that you need to balance out all three approaches, that they complement each other. Tackling complex problems (like the future of learning) requires systems thinking; identifying leverage points for your impact and minimising unintended and negative consequences.
They also require you to consider the humans involved and design with them in mind. Lastly, linear thinking helps you work out the details of implementation, and the all important question of: “what’s the next step?”
For you educators, teachers and learning designers out there, which of these frames of thinking do you spend most of your time in? What are you strongest at? Which needs a little more focus and effort?
Prompts for thinking systemically
I’m a learning designer by trade, recently starting a new role at Huddlecraft, an organisation that applies the craft of peer-to-peer learning to climb steep learning curves. Steep learning curves like new economy, climate action and social change.
Working here, supporting organisations and groups of people who are tackling such complex challenges, it feels critical to train up my inner systems-thinker besides my design-thinking and linear thinking skills.
But sometimes it’s hard to figure out, “am I thinking systemically?”. To those of you who are wondering the same, I’ve gathered a set of prompts to help:
Interconnectedness
- Am I focused on a part or a whole?
- What other parts are there?
- What are the connections between the parts?
Emergence
- What is this learning system trying to achieve?
- What patterns and behaviours are emerging?
- What might I be missing?
Feedback loops & causality
- What happens in the system if/when one part changes?
- What intended or unintended ripples may be triggered?
- What are effective points for leverage and intervention?
And then a nudge, because systems thinking isn’t done in silos…
- Who can help me to understand the system a little better?
Huddlecraft is the practice of skilfully bringing people together to form purposeful peer groups that pool resources, learning and action. These Huddles gather around steep learning curves like burnout, death (and life), economic justice to collective imagination. The result is unexpected and often life-changing; full of personal growth, tight-knit relationships, new directions and actions taken. Read more on this blog, “If I hadn’t Huddled…”
If your community or organisation is facing a steep learning curve and you think peer-to-peer approaches and Huddlecraft can help, reach out for a chat at hello@huddlecraft.com
