Complicity: An International Journal of Complexity and Education
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New Venues for Science Teacher Education: Self-organizational Pedagogy on the Edge of Chaos
No full textThis paper describes our attempt to develop a pedagogical practice informed by the concepts of complexity applied to education. The context of our study was the science methods course within an elementary teacher education program. The practice, described here, has overlapped instruction and assignment; teaching and learning; science and the arts; formal and informal education. Prospective teachers, while working in teams of 4–5, taught mini-lessons about science topics to 6th and 7th graders in field settings, and then, collaboratively with the children, produced scientific/artistic digital videos about these topics. As a next step, prospective teachers shared their teaching experiences, classroom observations, and self-produced videos with their university peers. Upon completing this practice, many prospective teachers have changed their ways of thinking about science and science education. We discuss how this practice is informed by and further informs such concepts of complexity as self-organization, chaotic attractors, fluidity, fuzzy boundaries, the edge of chaos, improvisation, adaptation, and transformation
The Use of Metapatterns for Research into Complex Systems of Teaching, Learning, and Schooling— Part II: Applications
No full textIn part I of this paper set, Volk and Bloom discuss the reasons why metapatterns are important in biological and cultural contexts. Here, in part II, we show how metapatterns can be applied to an important problem in qualitative educational research: the difficulties in elucidating fundamental patterns of interaction. In meeting this challenge we provide a metapatterns-based framework for analyzing and interpreting qualitative data. We begin by acknowledging the importance of context, the setting within which any system under investigation can be expected to exhibit metapatterns as functional components that are vital for the maintenance of that specific system within a particular context. We follow this discussion by defining three dimensions of our proposed analytical framework. The first dimension, which we call depth, examines the various metapatterns involved in the particular system under investigation. Extent is the second dimension, which involves extending to other contexts the interacting sets of metapatterns found in the investigation of depth. The third component is abstraction, which involves generating overarching principles or models from the analytical results of the first and second dimensions (i.e., depth and extent). We recommend that these three dimensions should be used recursively to meet the challenge named above. We demonstrate the framework through an example of a classroom discussion involving children arguing about the concept of density. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this analytical framework, along with a list of fundamental principles of this framework and a list of questions that can guide qualitative research
Complexity Theory and the Social Sciences, An Introduction
No full textA review of Complexity Theory and the Social Sciences, An Introduction, by David Byrne, 1998. New York: Routledge, 206 pp. ISBN 0415162963. $44.95 USD
The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding
No full textA review of The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding, by Humberto R. Maturana and Francisco J. Varela, 1998 [1987]. Revised Edition. Boston and London: Shambhala Publications, 269 pp. ISBN 0877736421. $29.95 USD
