COMPLEXITY THEORY AND COMPLEX ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS

One of the theories that caught my attention while reading chapter 2 of Teaching Crowds (Dron & Anderson, 2014) was the Complexity Theory and Complex Adaptive Systems (Kauffman, 1995). The concept of interacting components that adapt to one another is interesting when applied to the educational context. There is so much unpredictability and complexity within an educational system and yet there are overall patterns that emerge over a large scale and over time. The theory explains how control measures or “blocking mechanisms” (Dron & Anderson, 2014, p. 54) have been installed in educational systems to make sure that a number of learners are able to work together without creating chaos.

Doyne Farmer (as cited in Dron & Anderson, 2014, p. 55) used the interesting term “the edge of chaos" to describe the best way for learning to occur. Dron & Anderson state that "The emergence of complex, self-organized behaviour occurs between the realms of chaos and order" (2014, p.55). This mean that letting go of some of the control or blocking mechanisms leads to better learning and learning systems. It is interesting to read about a theory that supports relinquishing so much control to the learners because it could lead to several difficulties. The thought of students learning in such a rich, creative learning environment would appeal to many teachers and it is similar to learning in the real world. But if we are shifting to unblocked, uncontrolled learning environments, we need to be used to the “edge of chaos” and messy learning in the classrooms. Would that not be draining on the resources as well as energy? Irrespective of its other flaws, the current educational system conserves resources and energy from being expended on unnecessary tasks. A couple of other questions that came to mind are how will educators keep track of individual learning? Will process be more important than the product for learning and assessment purposes? Most importantly, how will educators keep learners from tipping over from the “edge of chaos” into actual chaos?

A video by Professor Larsen-Freemen on using the Complexity

Theory in Teaching English as a Second Language.

References

Dron, J. & Anderson, T. (2014). Teaching Crowds: Learning and Social Media [pdf file].

Retrieved from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120235/ebook/99Z_Dron_Anderson-

Teaching_Crowds.pdf

Freeman, L. (2015). Prof. Larsen-Freeman talks about complexity theory its implications for

TESOL [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqQi5de6bxU