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February 23, 2005

Connections: Inter and Intra

For a while now I've been intrigued by the work of Fritjof Capra, particulatly when his theories on complex systems and networked ecology move towards theories of human cognition and interaction. From my creative sitting "perch" (yes, the sciatica is better, but still annoying me) I've been poking around looking for relevant essays and connections i can make between Fritjof's work and the thinking we're doing in class.

Visiting Capra's homepage, I found a description of one of his books that I didn't know about--The Hidden Connections:

"A Science for Sustainable Living, the author extends the framework of systems and complexity theory to the social domain and uses the extended framework to discuss some of the critical issues of our time -- the management of human organizations, the challenges and dangers of economic globalization, the scientific and ethical problems of biotechnology, and the design of ecologically sustainable communities and technologies."

I'm wondering if any of you would like to read and talk about these ideas? I have Capra's The Tao of Physics as well as The Web of Life, and I'd like to get The Hidden Connections--BTW, I'm NOT suggesting that I'll read all of any of these books, just poke around in them and then read some work that uses them.

I have already found a couple of interesting articles useing Capra's ideas that I think are worth reading. Michael Crozier's essay is a bit dense in the academe-eze department, but I think it's worth looking at. I also found Jeff Bloom's piece, "Patterns that Connect: Rethinking Our Approach to Thinking and Learning." (I haven't included the link here because he has a permissions request on his site...which I am requesting as i write this---interesting extension of our authorship and ownership discussions, eh?)

Posted by dwinslow at February 23, 2005 01:07 PM

Comments

Thought I'd add this from Jeff Bloom for all interested bloggers.

Dianna,

Thanks for the note. That paper has been published with some new information. The citation is:

Bloom, J. W. (2004). Patterns that connect: Rethinking our approach to learning, teaching, and curriculum. Curriculum and Teaching, 19(1), 5-26.

I have some other related papers and information, some of which are on my project's site:

http://elsci.coe.nau.edu/news.php start with the "Articles" link on the right.

You're welcome to cite the old paper, as well. My personal site will be changing. It should have the same initial URL, but the links to specific pages will change.

You may want to check out the metapatterns information on the project site and look at Tyler Volk's book, Metapatterns: Across Space, Time, and Mind (Columbia U. Press).

Take care.

Jeff

Jeffrey W. Bloom, Ed.D.
Professor

Department of Teaching and Learning
College of Education, Box 5774
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
Office Phone: 928-523-0665
Office FAX: 928-523-1929
Email: jeff.bloom@nau.edu
Personal Website: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jwb2
Elementary Science Education Project Website: http://elsci.coe.nau.edu/news.php

Posted by: di at February 23, 2005 02:33 PM

I have Volk's book _Metapatterns_. I loved the idea and have used chapters as models for a student writing project. I'll bring it to class tomorrow.

Posted by: hj at February 23, 2005 11:23 PM

Thanks, Henry. Looking forward to it and chatting ftf about these ideas.

Posted by: di at February 24, 2005 12:52 PM