Thinking in Systems
Why systems do not behave as expected
Many situations, at school as in the local area, the environment or the economy, depend not on a single cause but on relationships that reinforce or offset one another over time, often with delays that make them hard to recognise. For this reason, a measure intended to solve a problem can sometimes make it worse. Systems thinking provides the language and the method to identify these relationships. Students learn it through examples and simulation games; each group then chooses a real case, builds a computer model of it and checks whether its behaviour matches what was expected. No programming skills are required.
- School level
- Upper secondary school
- Age
- 16-18 years old
- Structure
- 12 hours · 6 sessions
- The outcome
- The model built by each group and a short presentation comparing the expected behaviour with the one observed in the simulation, and drawing conclusions from the difference.
The programme can be recognised as school-to-work training (FSL, formerly PCTO). In that case we provide the documentation required for reporting: attendance register, competence assessment sheet and certificate of participation.
Bringing this programme to your school
A twenty-minute conversation, with no commitment, is enough to agree on the calendar, the number of sessions and how to adapt the programme to the classes involved.