Why Mapping the System Is Your Next Step to Making Change - Insights from Educators
This blog is drawn from the collections of interviews with educators published on our YouTube channel.
Why Systems Thinking?
“Systems thinking is such a foundational skill set being able to view things at a systems level, see the interconnectedness, and the contributing factors dig beneath the surface. I think you see it over the course of the program just how much that skill develops amongst the student. It changes the way that they approach not just their project but their schoolwork and everything that they do moving forward with it. It changes their whole viewpoint.”
“To be able to actually understand and have a tool, to create a map that would show you how all of this is connected is very important. To understand it you need to try to at least understand it more fully and Map the system is a tool you know that allows them to map that more fully…So regardless of whether you worked in business, policy, politics or any one of those areas, [it is essential] to understand and have a tool to create a map that would show you how all of this is connected.”
“Reflect on complexity, really want to understand what you know and what are the issues. Understand that it’s not just ‘I will have the great idea and I have to implement it.’ It’s a process that we have to live together and you know how we can understand together a complex issue. It is really something that inspires me.”
“We’ve seen great participation and take-up from people beyond the university who recognize the value of systems thinking - the contribution that a robust systems map could make to their own strategic thinking, the work they’re doing, and their effort to cultivate relationships and connections or prioritize what gap or lever for change they can best pull. [I believe this] is a strong affirmation of Map the System and the value that it brings, not only for the learning journey of students and enhancing interdisciplinary engagement and connection across universities, but also in bridging the university community in a meaningful way. ”
“I think when you want to understand something complex…, you begin to make an interview with somebody. You [then] know some part of the problem and you meet another person and tells you another part of the problem and [eventually] say ‘Okay I want to know more.’”
“[Systems thinking is all about] reaching outside of the box not being tunnel vision in a particular what you think a problem.”
Why Be Part of Map the System?
Map the System is a very unique Student Competition which is run by the University of Oxford who partnered with Map the System Canada in 2017 Map the System Canada is also sponsored by ATCO and the Space Lab team. This competition asks students to think differently about complex challenges in the social environmental economics equity and health spheres or spheres beyond those categories.
The competition urges participants to research and consider why these problems persist. Even though millions of dollars are poured into social science research, countless NGOs, charities and public policy, an integral reason is that we still think asystemically. We view the world and these challenges through our own lenses biases silos and academic disciplines. It challenges students to go well beyond their discipline, questioning not only practices policies and structures but deeply held assumptions and beliefs, often based in cultural and collective mental models. This competition acts as a bridge between students-as-learners and students-as-changemakers. These students examine systemic problems in real-time. They have the opportunity to interact with community organizations that are working to alleviate them firsthand.
ATCO support has played a crucial role in enabling these community connections. Through their support, students can engage in real-world issues and partner with organizations tackling these systemic challenges head-on. Since its beginning, Map the System has successfully connected students to the community. Students have gone on to be innovators through work in policymaking, nonprofits, consulting and major corporations. Map the system can be a tool for educators to help students grow by exploring systems thinking and sitting in complexity.
System maps come in many varieties from timeline maps to the 5Rs. These maps can even be worked on with system matter experts, community partners or interviewees. With mapping and systems thinking being iterative and flexible, Map the System with its clearly defined deliverables can be easily incorporated into a syllabus or co-curricular experience for students.
“The structure that Map the System provided became almost like, in…engineering language, our engineering requirements on how to develop the course. Some context about the course I developed, the deliverables themselves were designed to align with.”
“They’re very comfortable now talking about systemic challenges and understanding relationships correlation and causality, understanding that they need to go off and perform research to be able to make claims.”
“As students move on in their education, they are much more able to do and handle much more complex projects.”
“We’ve had students go on to do Graduate Studies so it’s become the basis for a grad school proposal. We’ve had students who’ve gone on to work for policy change and consult with local governments in one case so we’ve seen a lot a much more diverse array of pathways for students which is also again why our enthusiasm has only grown from Map the System that it’s not formulaic so it’s been a springboard for students to go in lots of different directions from a lot of different diverse disciplinary perspectives.”
“We’ve also seen students build on their learning journey through Map the System to partner with one of the existing organizations that’s very active in the solution landscape that they’ve discovered so they’ve gone on to an internship or in some cases to a professional role because Map the System has given them a good solid grounding to understand how they can work in that in that space and relationships and meaningful connections that they’ve they’ve drawn on in their career pathways.”
“And I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for students not only to encourage their research but also to be able to participate in an event like this.”
A network for changemaking and learning
When you join Map the System Canada, you will be joining a nationwide network of educators who are devoted to understanding the world through collaboration. Not only do the students learn but educators also have the opportunity to learn from each other and publish their findings afterwards.
“Bringing educators together there’s a lot of value in kind of re-energizing us or inspiring us or sharing kind of best practices amongst us so this kind of national network can be really helpful but also maybe most importantly I think for students to meet with other students from coast to coast like when else will students have an opportunity to do that.”
“If you have the opportunity to be involved in Map the System or other opportunities to learn about systems thinking, it’s something that you definitely should take advantage of.”
A Collection of Past Map the System Canada Competitions
