On 24 May 2016, a diverse group of teachers, service designers, students, entrepreneurs and school founders came together to share knowledge and ideas for ways to effect change in complex learning systems.

1. Changing Learning Systems
24 May 2016

2. On 24 May 2016, a diverse group of
teachers, service designers,
students, entrepreneurs and school
founders came together to share
knowledge and ideas for ways to
effect change in complex learning
systems.
At the start of the evening, the
group were asked to consider two
questions:
One challenge you are observing in
a learning system?
What does systems change mean to
you?

3. One challenge you are observing in a learning system?
The top theme was that the system
needs to rebalance to account for
the learner perspective and
experience, rather than the learner
confirming to a system:
"Balancing the needs of the
students with the institutions -
conflicting needs.”
"The system takes away from the
learning. The priority is
accountability and not the
experience."

4. One challenge you are observing in a learning system?
The second most common theme
was the difficulty in implementing
any change in a large entrenched
existing system - through lack of
capacity, skills or time to innovate:
“Fear of change and a new
(better?) way of delivering
education.”
"Learning in a formal school
setting is being sucked of
innovation!! No time to play, no
time to take risks.”

5. One challenge you are observing in a learning system?
Thirdly, inequality of access - that
the current system isn't addressing.
And a sense that there is a limited
scope of methods or approaches
being used currently:
“Lack of social and cultural
methods for pupils from low
income backgrounds”
“Accurately matching learners to
appropriate content and content
providers”
“Limited learning that supports
practice in situ, and is based on
lifelong skills rather than transfer of
knowledge”

6. What does systems change mean to you?
The most recurrent themes were
that it will to take a lot of people
changing in a lot of ways to get
things to happen! And that it
involves re-organising and shifting
our goals, patterns, structures -
looking at whole structures at once
rather than one issue in isolation:
“A total overhaul of existing
processes, structures and culture
from top down and bottom up”
“A shift in the structure or pattern
of organisation of a system”
“Addressing questions from all
angles. Relationships. Moving
together.”

7. What does systems change mean to you?
There is a sense that the centre of
the system needs to shift away
from the organisations to the learner
(which matches the common
challenge the group also noted):
"Instead of trying to make young
people fit the system, change the
system to suit their needs. There
needs to be more human centred
design in education!"

8. What does systems change mean to you?
There was a mix of opinion as to
whether system change happens
incrementally, one small change at a
time. Or whether it is a large scale
transformational process. Or indeed
whether you need to step out of the
system in order to lead a new
configuration - you can't do it from
the inside.
So there is a common desire to
change, but not a common method:
"Staying ahead of the system in
order to guide the change.”
" Failed attempts were too small.
Big. Impactful. Long term.”
“ Small but steady, little wins to
affect change over time.”