Changing Learning Systems

24 May 2016

On 24 May 2016, a diverse group of teachers, service designers, students, entrepreneurs and school founders came together to share knowledge and ideas for ways to effect change in complex learning systems.

At the start of the evening, the group were asked to consider two questions:

One challenge you are observing in a learning system?

What does systems change mean to you?

One challenge you are observing in a learning system?

The top theme was that the system needs to rebalance to account for the learner perspective and experience, rather than the learner confirming to a system:

"Balancing the needs of the students with the institutions - conflicting needs.”

"The system takes away from the learning. The priority is accountability and not the experience."

One challenge you are observing in a learning system?

The second most common theme was the difficulty in implementing any change in a large entrenched existing system - through lack of capacity, skills or time to innovate:

“Fear of change and a new (better?) way of delivering education.”

"Learning in a formal school setting is being sucked of innovation!! No time to play, no time to take risks.”

One challenge you are observing in a learning system?

Thirdly, inequality of access - that the current system isn't addressing. And a sense that there is a limited scope of methods or approaches being used currently:

“Lack of social and cultural methods for pupils from low income backgrounds”

“Accurately matching learners to appropriate content and content providers”

“Limited learning that supports practice in situ, and is based on lifelong skills rather than transfer of knowledge”

What does systems change mean to you?

The most recurrent themes were that it will to take a lot of people changing in a lot of ways to get things to happen! And that it involves re-organising and shifting our goals, patterns, structures - looking at whole structures at once rather than one issue in isolation:

“A total overhaul of existing processes, structures and culture from top down and bottom up”

“A shift in the structure or pattern of organisation of a system”

“Addressing questions from all angles. Relationships. Moving together.”

What does systems change mean to you?

There is a sense that the centre of the system needs to shift away from the organisations to the learner (which matches the common challenge the group also noted):

"Instead of trying to make young people fit the system, change the system to suit their needs. There needs to be more human centred design in education!"

What does systems change mean to you?

There was a mix of opinion as to whether system change happens incrementally, one small change at a time. Or whether it is a large scale transformational process. Or indeed whether you need to step out of the system in order to lead a new configuration - you can't do it from the inside.

So there is a common desire to change, but not a common method:

"Staying ahead of the system in order to guide the change.”

" Failed attempts were too small. Big. Impactful. Long term.”

“ Small but steady, little wins to affect change over time.”