Systems thinking in higher education: learning comes to focus

The question I contemplate in this paper is: What does systems thinking tell us about how to provide for learning and human development? As a researcher, teacher, and author I have addressed this question throughout my professional life. We discussed this question at the July '97 International Seminar in Systems Thinking in Higher Education at the Open University. This paper is an elaboration of my contribution to the seminar. In Part One, I tell the story of a hypothetical conversation between a subject-matter professor and a systems thinker. It highlights the difference between an instructional-focused and learning-focused approach to education. In Part Two, I elaborate this difference from a systems perspective. In Part Three, I present an epistemology, which brings learning into focus. And, in Part Four, I introduce an image of a systems complex that manifests a shift from instructional to learning focused education. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.