Bateson distinguished three orders of learning and change (no reference given. Grrr. could it be Ecology of Mind) p71
- Awareness of what is happening and what is required
- agency or ability to find a response that is meaningful
- association with other groups and networks
- action and reflection
in critical learning systems (Bawden)
"in essence, sustainability is about conservation of potential and increasing self-organization, resilience and adaptive capacity at all nesting levels within social-ecological systems, and learning - reflexive, experiential, experimental, participative, iterative, real-world and action-oriented - is intrinsic to this process and challenge" p78
This is talking about ecocultural sustainability, but it really rings true to me for the sustainability of the AWARD effect too.
p79 Sterling is talkiing about "an ecological worldview" but for me this is Systems in a nutshell: "[it] yields many different views of the same thing, and the same view of many different things". I love that!
Comments
third-order learning
in chapter 8 of Social Learning, David Selby refers to Sterling (2001)
"while first-order learning is adaptive, leaving basic values and assumptions unchallenged and unchanged, and second order learning takes to the level of active reflection on thinking and learning processes, third order learning is profoundly concerned with embracing epistemic and paradigmatic challenges to the way we see the world, with the conscious goal of transformation"