%A Curwen,Margaret Sauceda
%A Ardell,Amy
%A MacGillivray,Laurie
%A Lambert,Rachel
%D 2018
%J Frontiers in Education
%C
%F
%G English
%K systems thinking,Critical Thinking,critical pedagogy,elementary school children,Contructivism,primary grades,literacy,ecoliteracy
%Q
%R 10.3389/feduc.2018.00090
%W
%L
%M
%P
%7
%8 2018-November-09
%9 Empirical Study
%#
%! SYSTEMS THINKING TO ADDRESS DROUGHT
%*
%<
%T Systems Thinking in a Second Grade Curriculum: Students Engaged to Address a Statewide Drought
%U https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2018.00090
%V 3
%0 JOURNAL ARTICLE
%@ 2504-284X
%X Faced with issues, such as drought and climate change, educators around the world acknowledge the need for developing students' ability to solve problems within and across contexts. A systems thinking pedagogy, which recognizes interdependence and interconnected relationships among concrete elements and abstract concepts (Meadows, 2008; Senge et al., 2012), has potential to transform the classroom into a space of observing, theorizing, discovering, and analyzing, thus linking academic learning to the real world. In a qualitative case study in one school located in a major metropolitan area in California, USA teachers and their 7- and 8-year-old students used systems thinking in an interdisciplinary project-based curriculum. Through reflection and investigations, students devised solutions and used innovative approaches to publicly engage peers and family members in taking action to address an environmental crisis.