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NEWS
RELEASE
February 12, 2001
Rod Williams
rodw@pegasuscom.com
New
kind of thinking
prepares kids for a complex world
Preparing
our children for life in the complex world of the 21st century
is arguably the most important of all our responsibilities.
Now, a new book focuses directly on how we can cultivate in
kids the thinking skills that will help them the most in facing
the unique challenges ahead. When a Butterfly Sneezes:
A Guide for Helping Kids Explore Interconnections in Our World
Through Favorite Stories (Pegasus Communications,
2001, $14.95), breaks new ground by educating our children
to think beyond the limitations of conventional mindsets and
to find creative, responsible paths to sharing our lives and
our world.
Praised by innovators in learning such as Dawna Markova, and
Peter Senge, When a Butterfly Sneezes guides
parents (or teachers) in using popular children's picture
books to help kids learn the basic skills and concepts of
"systems thinking" in a fun and memorable way. So,
when you consider the outlandish consequences of giving a
mouse a cookie or the escalation of the Zooks' and Yooks'
battles over the right way to butter toast, you really are
starting to understand the same basic processes that underpin
such weighty issues as global warming, population changes,
and international conflicts.
Systems thinking, a method for understanding complex interconnections,
always looks for the "feedback loops" that determine
the behavior of a system, whether biological, social, ecological,
or economic. These loops are the building blocks of all systems,
regardless of their level of complexity. Because most picture
books fail to take into account feedback processes, author
Linda Booth Sweeney contends that they give children the wrong
ideas about how the world really works. Typically, A causes
B, B causes C. End of story.
But our world is rarely so simple. Sweeney points out that
getting stuck in this kind linear thinking can be a big obstacle
for kids as our world becomes more complicated and interconnected.
The stories featured in When a Butterfly Sneezes focus on
connections that are best described as loops: that is, A causes
a change in B, B causes a change in C, and then C in turn
causes a change in A. In this way the feedback loops form
a web of relationships among the changing elements of a "system."
Changes in the world around us that are puzzling when examined
with linear thinking become understandable from the perspective
of systems thinking. Aided by systems thinking skills, children
learn to question simplistic explanations. They start to see
the systems they are part of, to look for patterns in how
things happen, to understand why problems arise, and to figure
out what they can do about them. Ideally, they learn to influence
and design systems to produce better outcomes.
The first two sections of the book offer a basic introduction
to systems and systems thinking, and detailed tips for how
to use the book with children. The third section includes
a comprehensive guide to the 12 children's books. The books
include The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, The Sneetches,
The Lorax, The Old Ladies Who Liked Cats, Anno's
Magic Seeds, Zoom, traditional Native American
stories, The Butter Battle Book, and If You Give
Mouse a Cookie. Each chapter outlines the age range (generally
4 to 8 year-olds), the relevant systems thinking concepts,
a quick summary of the plot, teaching tips, personal accounts
from people who have used the stories with kids, the questions
to stimulate thought and conversation, and a short list of
related books. The book comes complete with several appendices-a
guide to reading systems thinking diagrams, tips for choosing
your own systemic children's stories, and guidelines for using
the book in trainings with adults.
Linda Booth Sweeney is a Harvard-trained educator and researcher
who is dedicated to helping children and adults understand
how the natural and social worlds function through the field
of systems thinking. As a researcher and consultant, Linda
has worked with the Society for Organizational Learning, and
has helped member companies-including AT&T, Ford and Visteon,
and other for- and non-profit organizations-to develop capacity
in systems thinking and its related disciplines. Linda lives
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband and two children.
She is currently at work on several "systems-oriented"
stories for children.
Pegasus Communications publishes books and newsletters in
the areas of systems thinking and management innovation. The
company also produces the annual Systems Thinking in Action®
Conference, the premier international event focusing on the
practice of systems thinking. When a Butterfly Sneezes
can be ordered from the publisher for $14.95, plus shipping
and handling, by calling 800-272-0945, by placing an order
at the Pegasus Web site (www.pegasuscom.com), or by sending
payment to Pegasus Communications, P.O. Box 2241, Williston,
Vermont 05495.
When a Butterfly Sneezes: A Guide to Helping Kids Explore
Interconnections in Our World Through Favorite Stories
(Systems Thinking for Kids, Big and Small, Vol. 1)
Linda Booth Sweeney
ISBN 1-883823-52-8 CIP 00-052855
5 ½ x 8 ½ , 119 pages, four-color cover, b&w
illustrations
$14.95, perfectbound, softcover
Publication date: March 2001
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