Figure I.1: Unstoppable Learning components.
Seven Elements of Systems Thinking
Fisher and Frey (2015) identify seven essential elements for both the systems thinking classroom and the systems thinker in order to drive home the importance of (1) planning, (2) launching, (3) consolidating, (4) assessing, (5) adapting, (6) managing, and (7) leading learning in each classroom in a systematic way. All the elements constitute effective practice and are interdependent.
This book will examine the element of managing learning. While the phrasing managing learning may sound ominous and conjure up images of control, Fisher and Frey (2015) explain, “That doesn’t mean that teachers have to exert tremendous control, exercising their power over students” (p. 13). Managing learning is about setting up the structures that lead to the desired outcomes. It involves achieving consistency as a committed team of educators in order to minimize the impact of negative behaviors and maximize the potential of each student.
Let’s make this clear from the outset—we should leave very little about the work in schools to a single individual to address, resolve, or create. In fact, Fisher and Frey (2015) explain, “Every adult in the school has a role in building proactive, healthy relationships with students. These efforts are much more likely to succeed, and quickly, when schoolwide efforts are employed” (p. 151). The growth and development of all students must be the prime objective and the domain of all who interact with those students. My travels as a consultant and author have revealed that educators often find themselves in systems that are not as effective and efficient as they could be. In the absence of a consistent, intentional, and aligned approach—a we approach—to creating positive student behaviors, teachers default to a me approach, whereby they give their absolute best but rarely achieve consistency—at either the personal or the schoolwide level. However, teachers and principals can establish consistency by using an interdependent approach to managing learning and by recognizing that the end result is the domain of the team, not the individual. Doing so requires systems thinking.
Four Principles of Systems Thinking
Fisher and Frey (2015) outline the following four principles that should simultaneously guide educators’ work to improve learning systems and ensure unstoppable learning for their students: (1) relationships, (2) communication, (3) responsiveness, and (4) sustainability. It’s fair to say that I have encountered many educators whom I would describe as forward thinkers—they employ and nurture these principles daily in their practice—but many work in a system or structure that isn’t designed to support them or their efforts to bring these practices into play. As an oft-quoted adage from Albert Einstein suggests, we can’t solve today’s problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. If a school’s end goal is to improve its current results, then its actions will need to change to achieve that end. Education authors Tom Hierck and Angela Freese (2018) suggest, “This means aligning in unity around a singular focus of learning instead of perpetuating the cycles of organizational chaos that cause forward thinkers to become overwhelmed and debilitated in their work” (p. 4). This also reminds me of a scene from one of my favorite Christmas stories, A Christmas Carol, where Ebenezer Scrooge suggests, “If the courses be departed from, the ends will change” (Dickens, 1843, p. 115). If we change the inputs, then surely the outputs will also change.
I believe every educator starts his or her day with a belief that all students can learn. Sometimes events or circumstances undermine that belief, and the best way to alter that is through a collective, systematic approach to managing behavior and, by extension, learning. A systems thinking approach that all educators embrace is a necessary requirement to attain this goal. Consider how Fisher and Frey (2015) describe what systems thinkers do and how they behave: “The systems thinking classroom requires educators to consider the elements that impact student learning and design structures to leverage these elements” (p. 2). These structures owned by an entire school faculty allow for collaboration and collective efficacy. There are enough influencers of student learning (for example, home life, socioeconomic status, and personal motivation) beyond the control of educators that educators must work to enhance the impact of those elements they can control.
Throughout this book, I attempt to link the four principles of systems thinking with the work of managing learning in order to best prepare this book’s readers for the thinking work they will need to do as they seek, gather, discuss, and respond to students’ reactions to their instructional delivery. Table I.1 illustrates the four principles of systems thinking and their alignment to managing learning.
Table I.1: Aligning Principles of Systems Thinking to Managing Learning
| Principle of Systems Thinking | Alignment to Managing Learning |
| Relationships | When students believe the adults within the learning organization are both invested in their learning and view negative behaviors as temporary obstacles, students will more readily invest in their learning. Every student needs an adult champion at school. I have yet to meet a student who has this connection (a strong, positive relationship with at least one educator) who does not make the progress teachers expect in school. |
| Communication | How teachers communicate among themselves, and with students, about students’ behavior can affect student progress toward their behavioral and academic goals. As teachers discuss students and their behavior, they should do so with an eye toward improving outcomes and consolidating beliefs. |
| Responsiveness | Teachers act responsively by ensuring all students have access to the behavioral supports they need to allow them to work toward performing the desired behaviors with proficiency. Teachers should be aware of, and know how to respond appropriately to, the student behaviors that can occur as a result of a variety of antecedents. They also must not escalate the behaviors through their personal responses to them. |
| Sustainability | Ensuring teachers and administrators have a common set of expectations and respond to student behaviors with consistency will ensure sustainable behavior management. When all adult stakeholders understand that consequence in isolation is not instruction, they can work together to create a plan that pairs consequence and instruction to create sustainable learning that every student can readily understand at his or her current level of demonstration. |
After reading the descriptions in table I.1 (page 5) of how the four principles of systems thinking align with managing learning, reflect on your own strengths as an individual and as part of a team. Consider where you have opportunities for growth. I encourage you to jot down some initial thoughts before you begin your journey through the chapters that follow.
About This Book
I have designed this book for all audiences regardless of grade level, curricular area, or role in education. Individuals and collaborative teams alike can benefit from exposure to the ideas in this book. The greatest benefit, however, will transpire when all members of a school community share a collective commitment to the work.
