Summary
Systems thinking skills are important in helping younger people understand the complexity of relationships when following current sustainable development trends throughout the world. Even if teachers know the dynamics and complexity of living systems in biology and geography, they might not be able to effectively explain it to students. Teachers need an understanding of systems and their behaviour (content knowledge), and they also need to know how systems thinking can be fostered in students (pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)). But the effective development of teachers’ professional knowledge in teaching systems thinking is empirically uncertain. From a larger study (SysThema) that investigated teaching systems thinking, this article reports the effects of the three different interventions (technical course, didactic course, and mixed course) in student teachers’ PCK for teaching systems thinking.
Authors conceptualize PCK for teaching systems thinking in three facets as follows: (a) A central role in teaching systems thinking is the knowledge of curriculum and educational ends, which includes ‘teachers’ knowledge of the goals and objectives for students. It represents structured knowledge teachers need for successfully teaching systems thinking, and it distinguishes the content specialist from the pedagogue. Hence, the teacher needs to know the competencies that they use for teaching and the knowledge of how these competencies play a role in systems thinking. The knowledge of curriculum was an essential part of pre-service teachers’ pedagogical reasoning around lesson planning and instruction. The teacher, possessing a substantial PCK, knows the curriculum and educational ends for teaching a special topic.
(b) Another facet is knowledge of instructional strategies, which includes the knowledge of methods as well as the most powerful strategies. Domain teachers’ knowledge of instructional strategies is defined as follows: knowledge about domain-specific instructions with illustrations, representations and analogies, knowledge of the appropriate use of domain-specific models of learning, knowledge of an appropriate use of domain-specific language, and knowledge of an appropriate use of scientific methods. Teachers need a repertoire of methods for promoting (Dimension 1) declarative and conceptual systems knowledge such as working with systems sciences tasks or educational films usage about ecosystems and their integration in lessons. They need to know useful methods for teaching (Dimension 2) modelling systems as well as strategies and activities for promoting (Dimension 3) the use of system models to solve problems, and (Dimension 4) evaluation of system models.
(c) Knowledge of students’ understandings in systems thinking represents the third important facet of teachers’ PCK. Teachers need to work with students’ existing conceptions and prior knowledge. This ability requires the skill to discern ‘what makes the learning easy or difficult’ and empathic skills to discern a pupil’s correct and incorrect conceptions concerning systems thinking. Errors and mistakes can provide valuable insights into implicit knowledge of a problem solver. Thus, being aware of typical student conceptions in the systems theory approach is important for teachers. Knowledge of students understanding requires a substantial and correct understanding of systems thinking.
Authors used a quasi-experimental approach with three treatment courses and a control group to examine effects of different inputs on student teachers’ PCK. All these courses had two common goals: (a) to enhance student teachers’ ability in systems thinking, ie their ability to solve complex dynamic problems within the context of sustainable development (acquiring CK); (b) to develop the ability to effectively teach systems thinking in school (acquiring PCK). In Course 1- technical, student teachers received a more technically oriented input. The different systems were modeled and analyzed with increasing autonomy and on a higher level of systems science.
In Course 2 - didactic, they received a more subject-related didactic input, emphasized the effective teaching and learning of systems thinking in school. The student teachers approached the question of what is meant by systems thinking. The reasons for teaching systems thinking to pupils were discussed in depth. Course 3 - mixed combined technical- and subject-related didactic content in almost equal proportions. The Mixed Course was designed from central components out of both courses described above. The participants almost worked on the same level of systems science as the student teachers in the technical course, but they mostly used only one case example. They had less opportunity to practice systems thinking autonomously and to transfer their knowledge to other domains. Furthermore, they evaluated system models only slightly and reflected a little on the validity and limits of the models. However, the mixed course included sessions on conceptualizations of systems thinking, on a competence model, teaching methods and pupils’ preconceptions. The control group received no intervention.
For each group, PCK for teaching systems thinking was measured before the intervention (test 1) and after the intervention (test 2). Two weeks after the intervention, another measurement was made in a follow-up test (test 3).
The results show that student teachers’ PCK for teaching systems thinking can be promoted in teacher education. The conclusion to be drawn from these findings is that a technically orientated course without didactical aspects seems to be less effective in fostering student teachers’ PCK for teaching systems thinking. The results inform educators in enhancing curricula of future academic track and non-academic track teacher education.
Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
The paper deals with systems thinking, sustainable development, and complex systems. Authors see systems thinking as the ability to recognize, describe and model (e.g. to structure, to organize) complex aspects of reality as systems. Another important aspect of systems thinking is the ability to identify important elements of the system and the varied interdependency between these elements. Other key aspects are the ability to recognize dimensions of time dynamics, to construct an internal model of reality and to make prognoses based on that model.
The goal to promote systems thinking at school is based on the assumption that students can only actively participate in sustainable development when they are able to identify and to understand complex, global relations using the methods of system theory.
Declarative knowledge includes, for example, basic knowledge of systems theory, knowledge of areas that can be considered as systems, knowledge of systems hierarchies and knowledge of properties of complex systems. The systems theory approach explains the behavior of complex systems, for example, of ecosystems from a certain perspective. Learning about complex systems, however, is challenging and requires special teaching delivered by well-trained teachers. The student teachers learned to analyze complex systems, to be able to provide explanations and to make predictions about the behavior of a system and to find appropriate measurements to influence the system behavior in a positive way.
