Teachers in Korea are coming together
to develop an interdisciplinary curriculum
based on systems thinking
◇ First attempt in Korea to develop cross-curriculum based on systems thinking
◇ Online, free, omnibus style, and participatory 17 professional development lectures for teachers
◇ Expected to enhance the competitiveness of public education based on system thinking, a core future competency
Although COVID-19 has had a negative impact on our society, it is also causing positive changes in public education, the most likely to change later. K-12 teachers in Korea will gather virtually to experiment with developing the interdisciplinary curriculum.
'Education Sangsang' (Chairman, Jang Jun-Geol, Vice Principal of Sanui Elementary School), a learning community led by teachers in Gyeonggi-do, has conducted an alternative public education-type school during the vacation period from 2020 and operated a grade-free convergence course. From May 5, the community will provide teachers across the country program to develop a non-grade and interdisciplinary curriculum.
The chairman Jang Jun-Geol said, "We are dreaming of restoring public education that has been destroyed by Covid 19. And we also want to have the education to spark the immersion and aspiration to learn. I expect this attempt to become one of the new alternatives to education for the future." his professional development program for teachers is non-face-to-face. It runs 17 lectures in an omnibus format for two hours each. The participant can take any course on their need, and it is free. The target audience is teachers from kindergarten to high school, alternative schools, and special schools, including researchers from institutions affiliated with the Office of Education. This training is directly conducted by Dr. Chang-Kwon [Benjamin] Chung, the CEO of the System Leadership Institute, a non-profit organization focusing on systems thinking education. Dr. Chung is one of the big supporters of this community and has been providing lectures based on talent donation for four years. Through various games and simulations based on systems thinking, he will teach the core concepts of systems thinking and methods to analyze the structure of social, economic, and environmental problems. Then, through discussion, teachers are supposed to reinterpret the contents as an interdisciplinary curriculum adaptable for the classroom.
Dr. Chung, the only World Climate Ambassador in Korea appointed by Climate Interactive, has served as the Korean Society for System Dynamics president.
He said, "Systems thinking is derived from System Dynamics, developed by Professor Jay Forrester of MIT Business School in the 1950s. Systems thinking is evaluated as a future competency by UNEP and OECD. I will share teaching methods and lecture materials that have been verified by thousands of students and teachers in Korea to the extent that the score is more than nine on a 10-point scale."
In the program, including various computer simulations, games are used, from simple body-moving games to fishery game that portrays the tragedy of the commons. In addition to Hamlet modeling from the humanities point of view and the prey/predator modeling from the ecological point of view, various climate and environmental issues are dealt with through EN-ROADS, a world-famous energy policy simulator.
For a detailed introduction and application for participation, please visit https://bit.ly/2022-ST-Learning-Org.
< attached file: photos and details of program >
Date & Program:
(time 19:00~21:00, From May to June, Total 34 hours)
▣ May
05. Thu. [Educational Philosophy]
- Orientation
- John Dewey’s “Reflective Experience”, Bruner’s “Spiral Curriculum”, and Systems Thinking
- Dan Zahavi’s “Phenomenology” and Systems Thinking
06. Fri. [Game] Text 1st , 2nd , 3rd, 6th game.
11. Wed. [Game] Text 4th (Bathtub game)
13. Fri. [Game] Text 13th & Waterlily story
20. Fri. [Game] Text 10th (Fishery Game)
24. Tue. [Game] Text 5th (Biodiversity game)
26. Thu. [Game] Mammoth game and expanding feedback thinking
27. Fri. [Game] Text 19th (Triangles game) and SPLASH!
31. Tue. [Group Modelling Based Project] Causality notation linking to NIE(Newspaper In Education)
▣ June
02. Thu. [Group modelling based research] Feedback notation linking to NIE(Newspaper In Education)
07. Tue. [Group modelling based research] Systems Thinking Diary
10. Fri. [Group modelling based research] Iceberg Model
14. Tue. [Simulation] Prey & Predator model
21. Tue. [Simulation] Hamlet Modeling
23. Thu. [Simulation] Stock & Flow Modeling I. (Stella Usage)
28. Tue. [Simulation] Stock & Flow Modeling II. (Life and Calculus)
30. Thu. [Simulation] EN-ROADS & Energy Policy
