1. Kristopher Wells (kwells@ualberta.ca) & Andrew Breckenridge (h_hornblower@hotmail.com) University of Alberta Complexity and Education: From Theory To Practice and Back Again

2. Complexity and Education US Department of Education Report (Sanders & McCabe, 2003) Emerging Trends “Uses of Complexity Science” Emphasis on the need to move beyond a reductionistic paradigm Cite the importance of complexity and a nested systems-thinking approach to help lead and organize 21 st Century organizations Explore the implications for the use of complexity science in understanding the complexities of the educational system

3. Complexity in Government US Department of Defense Network Centric Warfare -“Robust self-forming networks” based on linked information-decision-action- networks Advanced Research Projects Agency - “non-linear generation of ideas”

4. Complexity in Education Center for Connected Learning & Computer- based Modeling Chaos & Complexity ARA Special Interest Group National Science Foundation - Report: “Complex systems & education: Cognitive learning and pedagogical perspectives” Authors identify the need to create a new framework for transforming education in the United States

5. Theoretical orientation reconceptualization of education from a complicated to a complex and emergent process (Davis, 2004; Davis, Sumara, & Kapler, 2000; Doll, 1993) transformative potential that complexivist principles can offer to educational research and practice Complexity and Education Conceptual lens complexity is already present in classrooms how might we prompt educators to enact complexivist principles in their current pedagogical practices & research engagements

6. Collectivity in Action: Complexity & Education Website www.complexityandeducation.ca

7. Complexity in the Classroom: Building a web(site) A collaborative effort As class project we collaboratively built the website www.complexityandeducation.ca The website was built with the intention of providing a meeting space for educators who are oriented towards or informed by complexity science Working group was established and students regularly met and, with the professor, discussed the direction and potential content of the website Decisions were always brought before the group so that they could be discussed

8. Engaging the work Each contributing author took up a task ranging from the coordination of areas such as the glossary to the writing of summaries for various learning methodologies All contributors also participated in the development of large projects such as the annotated bibliography and the glossary The completion of the glossary also entailed comprehensive collaboration between authors as the terms were regularly debated, revised and edited by the group

10. Working together: A collaboration of peers - Everyone made initial contributions Finding fertile soil: Building on the foundations of others - The websites provided a means by which the web of complexity theory and education could be expanded Managing the initial development - The initial development was significantly faster than anticipated and many more sites existed than initially thought Good roots create a lifetime of growth - Many people continue to refer sites Constructing the Webliography

11. Completing the web(site) After each portion of the website was completed it was submitted to the the group for review and, upon consensus, was incorporated into the website The individuals responsible for specific areas of the website remain active in the maintenance/growth of their contributions Educators continue to provide feedback to help the website evolve to meet their pedagogical and research needs

12. Safe & Caring Schools in a Complex World: A Guide for Teachers Alberta Teachers’ Association & The Society for Safe and Caring Schools and Communities (SACSC)

13. Comprehensive violence prevention initiative designed to model and foster socially responsible and respectful behaviors, so that learning and teaching can take place in a safe, caring, and inclusive environment SACSC Philosophy Complexity Booklet Challenge traditional theories of learning - Conceptualize the brain as ecosystem, rather than computer or empty vessel Develop a complexivist framework to help reorient understandings of the “learner,” “teacher,” and “classroom” as part of a nested system

14. “fire & wire” patterns of behaviours learning is associative & rooted in experience reinforce proactive & engaged approaches to learning move away from understandings of “classroom management,” “best practices,” and “zero-tolerance” approaches building resiliency & plasticity diverse experiences create the opportunity for an increased flexibility of response Complexity of Bullying

15. Prompting Complexity Internal Diversity Internal Redundancy Neighbouring Interactions Enabling Constraints Decentralized Control (Davis, 2004; Davis & Simmt, 2003)

16. Complexity & Current Issues in Education knowledge is relational The issue is not where knowledge is located, but what counts as knowledge we are our experiences the need for mindful and engaging educational experiences can lead to the rise of an intelligent classroom/collective Knowledge Now – Knowing is doing Engaging Interest – Knowing is being

17. Experiential Learning/Skill Practice – Knowing is becoming individual competency is necessary for the emergence of complex possibilities need for diversity among a system’s/classroom’s agents New Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes – Knowing is belonging decentralized control and neighboring interactions help to open up spaces where students can feel they fit into a grander unity students who feel that they belong will be responsible to/for one another and become more capable of ambitious learning

18. Practical Application – Knowing is doing, being, becoming, belonging all human social relationships occur in webs of interrelationships. Life is complex. The question, therefore, is not of the presence of complexity, but rather harnessing it for learning experiences at the heart of every complex classroom is a safe, caring, and inclusive environment that sees all students and teachers as valued and valuable members of the learning community

19. (whose collaborative efforts lay behind the Glossary, Annotated Bibliography, Webliography, and Complexity Booklet) Susan Bowsfield Andrew Breckenridge Brent Davis Khadeeja Ibrahim-Didi Mijung Kim Tammy Iftody Angus McMurtry Immaculate Namukasa Jérôme Proulx Kristopher Wells Sun Joo Hur (assisted with the Complexity Booklet) UofA Complexity & Education Seminar Group