Working in the marshlands
what working across worldviews means for education and learning
Marshlands are ecotones.
“Ecotone is a transition area between ecologies, where life worlds meet and integrate” James Clifford.
Ecotones are critical for diversity as large numbers of species find new ways to co-exsist. They are dynamic and change with the seasons. It is a space full of life and as such full of tension. The work of moving between paradigms or worldviews has sometimes been called the work of bridging, the trying to find the path between worlds. I have always found the word bridging jarring due to its mechanical nature, keeping things separate. Others have attempted different ways to talk of this work, such as Robin Wall Kimmererin Braiding Sweetgrass, a process of weaving together worldviews. Melanie Goodchild in relational systemic thinking talks about being in different boats on the same river and Tyson Yunkaporta in Sandtalk talks about the process of yarning. An inquiry into the work of bridging with the Illuminate network has used the word tunnelling to articulate the need to work with the unseen: we need to find the deeper practices of change. Looking for my own suggestion I came across the idea of ecotones, an example of which is a marshland. The work of weaving, bridging, and tunnelling is, I suggest, also working in the marshlands.
In the linked article I explore some of the history of the ways of knowing in the world, including the impact of western education on our systemic sensibility, driving our ways of knowing towards rationalization, of objective truth and continued to separate subjects and work towards the “right” answer. Systems thinking and frameworks can offer a way to open up our view and counter this impact however I argue that we need to expand what we value as the approaches and practices that are needed for a just and regenerative world.
Namely this means looking to learn with indigenous wisdom, people with lived experience, that of the global majority and with multiple learning styles.
The article also explores the difficulty of working across these different worldviews — the marshlands — and looks at what this might mean for how we design and facilitate systems change and systemic learning, using the School of System Change as an example.
At the School and with Illuminate we are looking at ways to explore how we can learn across different ways of knowing, being and practicing systems change, connecting people together and contributing to the expansion, strengthening and deepening of the field of systems change practices — get in touch if you would like to explore this more.
If you would like to develop your systemic practice in 2023 alongside a supportive community of peers, please explore School of System Change learning offerings.
