Exploring Social Learning Systems – TB872 Pt 01 Wk 04 • AlexMakes

Continuing with the meta themes of TB872 Managing Change with Systems Thinking in Practice module, we began to adapt the way we apply systems thinking from the analysis of our own engagement with systems to the engagement of multiple stakeholders in various situations.

When we manage change alongside others, we can can do so effectively by consulting with the group about what matters to them, what change they hope to see, and how we can make changes that are beneficial to the system as a whole. It is helpful to understand how each individual engages with the situation, why they have certain perspectives, and how their unique experience and understanding of the situation can benefit the group. This is a learning process that includes all affected stakeholders and requires facilitation of communication in a form that is appropriate for the community. The group can be seen as a community of practice because they have a shared goal of learning, within the context of a shared situation of concern. Their individual practice is informed by the collective learning of the group.

An example of this is how the sustainability of water use, in the Benelux middle area of the Netherlands, was improved through social learning. The area had issues with low groundwater levels during periods of dry weather. The water boards tried to mitigate this by imposing a ban on sprinkler irrigation during those periods. Several groups were affected by the issue and by the ban in different ways. Regulation failed because of non-compliance and difficulties with enforcement so authorities supported the formation of a multi-stakeholder collaboration. This collaboration was based on voluntary participation and shared learning through which participants learnt about new technologies and practices that enabled more efficient use of water. As well as the tools and techniques, they developed a feedback system that allowed monitoring of water use, and therefore continued learning going forward (Jiggins et al., 2007).

Diagram of Social Learning for Sustainable Shared Water Use, based on stakeholder collaboration in Netherlands, 2003

In the above situation, the stakeholders included:

The water board
Farmers
Horticulturalists
Conservationists
Members of the public

The processes involved were:

Dry weather leading to groundwater levels falling
Conservation of groundwater making it difficult for farmers and horticulturalists to do essential work
Sprinkler ban affects other stakeholders in different ways
Multi-stakeholder collaboration + government support ⟶ learning and participation ⟶ new technologies and practices to maintain effective water balance

We can use the different types of learning identified by Laat and Simons (2002) to find examples of the types of learning happening through the collaboration:

Individual learning
(Learning by yourself ⟶ affects yourself)
Example: Every individual in the situation felt the effects of dry weather individually, learning to cope using their own knowledge and experiences.

Individual learning processes with collective outcomes
(Learning by yourself ⟶ affects the group)
Example: The water board, as an institution, tried various methods to manage groundwater levels without consulting the community.

Learning in social interaction
(Group learning ⟶ affects individuals)
Example: The multi-stakeholder collaboration based on shared learning taught individual stakeholders how to use new technologies and practices.

Collective learning
(Group learning ⟶ affects the group)
Example: The collaboration created opportunity for continued shared learning and collective action, changing how the community managed their land.

Referring to the book Systems Thinkers (Ramage, M. and Shipp, K. (2020), I started to put together a diagram of the influences / lineages of people that have contributed to contemporary understanding of learning systems. This is something we will come back to later in the module, but it is useful to get a brief reminder of prominent thinkers and how their work can be applied to situations such as our own learning processes.

Social Learning Systems Diagram – Thinkers, traditions + lineages

As I look at my own history of experiences with communities and networks, one of the things I notice is that in a community, some behaviours are encouraged and others are discouraged. There are different ways to enforce or encourage maintenance of community standards, and it depends on the goals of the community and what kind of social interactions are required to achieve those goals. For example, in work, school, or neighbourhood environment where larger groups are expected to behave in a certain way and people may not have very close relationships, there can be some level of anonymity and potential to utilise authorities’ powers to restore order. In smaller, intimate groups such as friendship groups and families tend to have different expectations of how members should communicate with each other and handle conflict.

Activity 1.29 Experiences of Communities and Networks Diagram

This can, in some ways, relate to the differences between communities and networks as discussed by Wenger (2010b, p. 191), where networks have more to do with connectivity, and community is about identity. There are many factors that determine the extent to which we identify with a community, but those that we do identify with are qualitatively different to networks of individuals that may only be connected for superficial reasons, perhaps not even interacting with other parts of the network at all. Our different communication styles within networks and communities serves the purpose of our relationship with that group, whether it is in our interest to build close relationships or keep a distance. In any case we are acting in a way that shapes the dynamics specific to that group, sometimes without explicit direction but often with direct instructions such as the community guidelines in our social media groups.

I have previously discussed my feelings about how it can be difficult to develop a sense of community through distance learning, and that has affected how I engage with the TB872 module. I question the effectiveness and quality of the social learning taking place, as students are mostly left to figure things out amongst themselves which I assume is typical at this level of mainstream education.

If we look at the TB872 module as a system with inputs and (what we hope to be) the resultant outputs, we would have some transformations occurring within the system that change inputs into outputs.

An idealistic perspective of Transformation through TB872 (A system for studying how to manage change with Systems Thinking in Practice (STiP))

Outputs:

Students have better understanding of how to manage change with STiP
Students have certifications for completion of the module
Students are better prepared for continued study of STiP
Tutors have greater experience of teaching how to manage change with STiP
The Open University benefits from tuition fees, record of new cohort and their achievements
The intellectual field of Systems Thinking gains potential contributors
Other fields gain benefits of qualified Systems Thinkers

Inputs:

Students with interest in learning how to manage change with STiP
Experienced facilitators and educators with knowledge of STiP prepared to support students in the learning process
Experts in the relevant traditions of STiP have authored and published books as module resources, and prepared and reviewed online course materials
The Open University has resources prepared to facilitate students’ effective learning through remote study

Transformations:

Teaching is adapted to current cohort → Learning is facilitated
Community of practice developed → Collective learning
Students’ internal learning process → Application of STiP to students’ individual situations

The system can be seen to be circular because the changes that happen to the individuals and institutions related to the TB872 module will impact the inputs to the system the next time the module is run—tutors will have even more experience; the university will have updated technologies to facilitate remote learning; the contributions that Master’s graduates may make within their domains, and to the field of Systems Thinking in general, can influence what will be taught to future students.

Aside from the processes either inherent in, or designed into, the learning systems of institutional settings, students can develop their own learning systems. This can work well if students share a goal of creating systemic change through collective learning. For example, if I worked with a group of fellow students as a Critical Social Learning System (CSLS), there are certain characteristics that the group would need to have in order to make change through social learning (Bawden, 2010).

To my understanding, by my definition, we would have to:

be open to exploring new ideas, and actively looking for alternative perspectives that challenge our own individual perceptions of a situation
be collaborative, with all members of the group feeling able to offer ideas and challenge ideas in a constructive way
test the effectiveness of ideas, to discover what works and what doesn’t through experiential learning
be aware of the different elements and processes in the situation of interest we are focusing on as a group, and using feedback from changes to inform the next cycle of development

For my own personal learning process as part of the TB872 module Managing Change with Systems Thinking in Practice, I have drafted my initial learning contract stating the priorities for what I think I should focus my learning on in the next sections of the course:

Myself, as a Practitioner (High priority)

I think there are some fundamental concepts and methods that make it easier to think systemically in general, and that involves learning through practice, not just reading and thinking about thinking. I would like to embody Systems Thinking through practice, on my way to knowledge of the subject and instinctive application to specific real world situations as part of a toolbox of skills available to me as needed.

Frameworks of ideas – theory (High priority)

We are told by tutors that, at least for this module, we have the essential content provided in the module materials. However, I believe that learning about different frameworks and developing my own is important for critical thinking, balanced perspectives, and creative adaptation of practice to challenging situations.

Systems as theory (Low priority)

There is the danger of placing too much importance on theories of systems that lack practical application. For this reason, I think it best to focus more on systemic approaches, building awareness of systems and our roles within them.

Other aspects of ‘F’ (High priority)

It’s important to understand ourselves and what is important to us, in order for our practice to be informed by our values and goals, not just doing things for the sake of doing things. Our understanding of ourselves helps us to communicate our perspectives to others, in order to reason and compromise on matters that affect our shared systems of interest and situations of concern.

We can also develop our frameworks by learning about ideas we find valuable and which support or challenge our ideas. By being open to new concepts and practices, we can increase our level of competency including the development of our systemic sensibility, systems literacy and Systems Thinking in Practice capability.

Method, methodology, techniques (Medium priority)

By learning about existing methods for managing change with systems thinking, I will be better able to visualise effective practice and potential outcomes in various situations. This can provide guidelines while I learn more about Systems Thinking, and possibly give me ideas that can be adapted to my own situations. At the moment I feel like creative thinking and adaptation is more useful than following guidelines when dealing with complex issues and problematic situations, so I prioritise this less.

Specific situation 1 (High priority)

My current focus and priority is ‘successful’ completion of the TB872 module. Success for me would be to surprise myself with the cool new things my brain can do, to get a good grade by showing my understanding well through assignments, and to find a way to apply my new understanding of managing change with STiP in a way that makes a valuable difference to others.

Specific situation 2 (Medium priority)

Relating to my previous practice as a designer, running my own business and working with clients, I am interested in the systems related to creative work. I would like to explore the practice of developing systems for creative design work as part of being an owner of a creative business, or to explore the practice of creating design solutions for clients—systemic thinking within systematic processes. It would be useful because it involves reflecting on the design of systems of design, and exploration of how creative practices may benefit from STiP.

Specific situation 3 (Medium priority)

Alternatively, it may be interesting and useful to reflect on the practice of developing my career, as I improve my STiP capabilities. It would be an opportunity to develop a learning system for that specific scenario, but I’m not sure if it would be worth doing.

My overall practice performance—connecting up Practitioner, Frameworks, Method, Situation (High priority)

Due to the limited ability I currently have to test my own skills in managing change with STiP, I will assume that I have a lot to learn about the processes involved, about how to properly evaluate my practice performance, and how to develop a learning system to improve my performance.

Others (Medium Priority)

Although much of the STiP we may have to do or think about is involving others, I recognise the importance of social learning for managing systemic change. I do not prioritise it because of my current personal situation that doesn’t involve much engagement with others.

Next steps

I will be able to see how well I understand the TB872 module materials after completing the tutor-marked assignment (TMA) this week. I’m glad that I spent more time than required on each week’s activities in Part 1 of the module, and summarising my understanding in the blog posts for week one, two, three and this fourth week. It should make it easier to put together my answers for the TMA questions, but I will still need to do some extra research for extra supporting evidence. So far, it has been a fun challenge to manage my learning each week. My only concern is that I spend too much time on the activities which doesn’t leave much buffer space between the processes in my learning system! This could cause delays if unexpected issues come up, or when I can’t stick to my usual routines (for example, during the Christmas period)… I will see if my efforts have been worth it after getting feedback from the TMA, and then adapt my methods as needed for the new year. Seeing this module as a system is a perfect way to learn about Managing Change with Systems Thinking in Practice!

References

Ison, R. and Blackmore, C. and the TB872 module team (2020) ‘Title of item’. TB872: Managing Change with Systems Thinking in Practice. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2303519&printable=1.

Blackmore, C., Ison, R. and Jiggins, J. (2007) ‘Social learning: an alternative policy instrument for managing in the context of Europe’s water’, Environmental Science & Policy, 10(6), pp. 493–498. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2007.04.003.

Simons, P.R.-J. and Laat, M. (2002) ‘Collective Learning: Theoretical Perspectives and Ways To Support Networked Learning’, European journal of vocational training [Preprint]. Available at: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Collective-Learning%3A-Theoretical-Perspectives-and-Simons-Laat/260983f8a35c0f8537c7d2719949e5abcd63bac3 (Accessed: 23 November 2024).

Ramage, M. and Shipp, K. (2020) Systems Thinkers. London: Springer London. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-7475-2.

Wenger, E. (2010) ‘Communities of Practice and Social Learning Systems: the Career of a Concept’, in C. Blackmore (ed.) Social Learning Systems and Communities of Practice. London: Springer, pp. 179–198. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84996-133-2_11.

Bawden, R. (2010). Messy Issues, Worldviews and Systemic Competencies. In: Blackmore, C. (eds) Social Learning Systems and Communities of Practice. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84996-133-2_6