DISCUSSION about CIR

I am excited to think of the possibilities and the journey unfolding before me. Thank you.

Thank YOU! And keep your fingers crossed. Changing a perspective in place for well over a century is going to be hard.

Thanks for the free download- I plan to use this on Monday's in 8 grade class. Not sure I'm "smart" enough to cover it all- but it's value seems great! Amy

I’ve been submerged in the deep waters of America’s “schooling processes and systems” since 1950. I’ve participated in a variety of roles - student, teacher, administrator, professor, consultant, educational sales manager and parent. I welcome this opportunity to learn and will communicate honestly with you and all who are seeking REAL transformation of our current “schooling processes and systems.” Peace RWD

I want to express my appreciation of your work. I found your work a few years back. Your idea of sense-making and helping learners develop a mental filing system spoke to me. Thanks much for the good words. Thus far, you're part of a very small minority. I am a professor and home-school my son. Our son is now 13 and we are just beginning to use Connections: Investigating Reality.

(Marion:) We're pleased and grateful.

I had a couple of thoughts related to the change in your system modeling diagram for studying human systems. In the figure, you replace "motive force" by "shared ideas". While I understand the importance of shared ideas, it does not convey what motive force does. The emotional component underlying behavior are more clearly brought out by motive force. Motive force in my mind integrates the cognitive and the emotional, and this ties in to the patterns of action. In fact, in our first pass with this model, I am going to replace "motive force" by "needs/wants."

(Marion:) You make a good point. We probably don't make it clear enough that "shared ideas" includes an emotional component. "Worldview" might be a better term than "shared ideas," but whatever works for you and your son is certainly what you should use.

My second question relates to "structure." I really like having that component in the model, structure shapes actions. I understand the importance of demographics but at least for me it does not carry the same information as structure.

(*Marion:)"Structure" applied to social systems is a valid and long-standing concept. Our concern is whether or not it subsumes demography, which we think gets far less attention than it deserves. We've included groups/sub-groups as part of the Model under Demography, of course. For some users, that may broaden it.

The American History Handbook has an extended discussion of Dominant Ideas, but of course that doesn't help here.

I am thinking of exploring with the following initial version: Environment, Wants/Needs, Structure, Patterns of Interaction, Change Fine. We are reading about Rosa Parks and doing US History and constitution. I suppose no four words will meet everyone's needs at all times. The original environment, motive force, structure, interaction, change is a great starting point from which we can evolve our exploration.