Ethics, Worldview & Influence
Parts, Patterns, And Systems
This lesson helps students understand systems by looking at parts, patterns, and connections. They practise zooming out from a single event.
What you will learn
- Shift from looking at isolated events to looking at the broader system those events live inside.
- Understand that a system is made of interacting parts and feedback loops, and learn to recognise the two most common kinds of loop.
- Draw a simple diagram of one real system from the student's life, clear enough to explain to someone else.
- Capture one specific insight from the map that changes how the student sees the issue, in a form short enough to remember.
What happens in this lesson
Chapter 1: Zoom Out
Shift from looking at isolated events to looking at the broader system those events live inside.
What you make: A saved zoom-out note describing one specific event from the student's own life and the larger system it was actually part of.
Chapter 2: Parts And Loops
Understand that a system is made of interacting parts and feedback loops, and learn to recognise the two most common kinds of loop.
What you make: A saved loop identification note naming one reinforcing loop and one balancing loop the student can see in their own life or in a familiar system.
Chapter 3: Map A System
Draw a simple diagram of one real system from the student's life, clear enough to explain to someone else.
What you make: A saved system map of one real system, listing at least four parts, at least two loops, and a short description of how the system behaves over time.
Chapter 4: System Insight Card
Capture one specific insight from the map that changes how the student sees the issue, in a form short enough to remember.
What you make: A saved system insight card naming the system, the key insight from the map, one specific change that follows from the insight, and one thing the student will watch for to see if the insight is correct.
Chapter 5: Find The Leverage Point
Evaluate a real system map and choose the most effective place to intervene, then justify why that point is stronger than a more obvious fix.
What you make: A saved leverage-point memo naming one system, three possible interventions, the best leverage point, and a short justification for why it is the strongest choice.
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