# See the System, Proposals for the Woolman Program Committee
The StS working group is pleased to present a series of proposals for the consideration of the Program Committee of Woolman.
The paradigm of Systems Thinking is the opposite of reductionist thinking, it is the idea that we can only understand the world that we live in by understanding the relationships of the elements that comprise it. By understanding the elements of the world around us we can begin to understand the nature of the problems and issues that confront our societies, cultures, organizations and neighborhoods. We can begin to see the issues we confront though understanding the relationship of the elements and the information, energy and stimulations flowing through the various elements of the system that we are studying.
We believe that the best thing that we as teachers and guides who are deeply involved in the systems thinking world can do is to encourage children to maintain their natural view of the world as a whole system and to nurture the systems view of the issues, and problems they will confront in the world to find the leverage points of the systems to achieve change.
**1. The See the Systems week for Children**
We propose to organize and facilitate a week-long experience for children aged between 12 through 14. We will stimulate the co-creation of knowledge by exploring a shared problem, issue, or concern through a systems lens. Together they will discover the elements that cause the problem to exist and the relationships between them. They will create a map of the system dynamics and use it to identify root causes and leverage points. Finally, they will design a project to test their proposed intervention(s).
The co-creation of knowledge will be driven through the interaction of the children working in groups. The function of the Guide is to suggest sources where methods and resources for discovery and analysis can be found. Guides do not lecture and do not judge or otherwise value.
At the end of the exercise week the teams will present their findings, analysis, conclusions and suggested course of systemic change to a group of community members. The community will give feedback if requested.
It is proposed that the sessions be convened on the grounds of Woolman in a facility to be determined. Depending on the target participation (local, state wide, nation wide, etc) and selection criteria lodging may be arranged. It is suggested that recruitment, selection, etc. of the attendees be the responsibility of the Woolman staff or appropriate partners.
The cost of the delivery of the See the System week for children is subject to negotiations in terms of expense and stipend for the facilitators and materials.
**2.The See the Systems week for Children and Adults Simultaneously**
We propose to organize and facilitate experiential sessions much the same as those we have proposed for children but to make the session also open to adults. The sessions will be organized in separate venues to ameliorate the power structures that inevitably exist between adults and children. The key goal of the process remains to inspire and nurture the agency of the group of children.
**3. The See the Systems week for Children and Elders**
We propose to organize and facilitate experiential sessions much the same as those we have proposed for children but to make the session also open to elders (such as grandparents.) The notion of separation between children and elders would not be necessary since the issues of power structure do not seem to exist between these generations. Here the role of Guide can be filled by the elder (subject to training - see below) and enhance the intergenerational value of the relationship.
**4. The See the Systems Guide training week**
Key to a successful See the Systems experience is the participation of a trained Guide. The skill set of a trained Guide is distinctly different than that of the trained teacher.
The teacher lectures to students who listen and are expected to absorb knowledge (usually without questioning the knowledge): It is a didactic exercise. The teacher is in the position of power and wields the sword of truth and reduction and thereby reveals the phenomenal world in its component parts.
The Guide does not claim a franchise on the truth but merely suggests sources of inquiry and possible methods to interrogate the system under study. This allows the group of students to find the truth of the matter themselves, to co-create knowledge and discover not only agency, but the art of critical thinking. For an example of the kind of interaction between guide and student see Do It Naturally.
The Guide training week develops the skills needed to mentor communities of students in the art of seeing the world as a unified system, analyzing the system to find its component structure and information flows, leverage points to change the system and perhaps the most important skill, critical thinking.
During their training the guides will experience the See the Systems process themselves. We believe that the best way to learn anything is to do it and then teach it to others.
**Lagniappe**
The proposals outlined are all scalable and portable. They can be duplicated periodically for the particular groups addressed for further exploration, and to bring discovery to practice. They can be experienced in a physical environment and as a hybrid teaching experience.
All of these proposals are part of a broader initiative to bring systems thinking to the world as a balancing element to the reductionist thinking and teaching methods of traditional education. .