Thinking skills in transdisciplinary curriculum integration: A service-learning project in a Spanish secondary school

The article considers the importance of the systemic thinking of a leader as a key competence of an effective manager of the 21st century. The employers’ understanding of the analyzed quality at different levels of development of this competency is shown: from awareness to expert. So, for example, the initial level involves the ability to describe the relationships between processes in your subject area, but at the highest level, the leader or specialist should already see the grounds that unite them, be able to make strategic decisions. Systemic thinking allows you to look at the problem being solved as a system of interrelated factors, to rise above the problem and see it in its entirety, the socalled “Helicopter Sight”. From the point of view of systemic thinking, the importance for the leader of the ability to reveal the abilities of subordinates is shown; ability to respect and be tolerant of other, sometimes opposite and alien points of view. The author gives the results of many years of research on problems of thinking. The studies conducted during the training with the managers and specialists of PJSC Gazprom on the development of systemic and innovative thinking showed an insufficient level of development of systemic thinking. It was also found that managers and specialists included in the organization’s personnel reserve need a deeper study of the essence of systemic thinking and its tools.

Creativity and creative thinking are considered as innate skills developed under positive environmental conditions, stagnating or dulling under negative environmental conditions. Creativity and creative thinking skills, which can be improved with education, have taken their place among the general aims of education in our country. Many factors especially such as family and social and physical environ-ment, school, curriculum, teacher etc. affect the development of individuals' creativity and creative thinking skills. This review study was conducted in order to compile and present the basic information in the literature about creativity and creative thinking. First of all, definitions related to creativity concept were given and the approaches that originated from these definitions were examined in the scope of the study. Then, features of creative individual, misunderstandings about creativity, dimensi-ons and stages of creativity were given. The factors that prevent creativity were discussed after mentio-ning the relationship between the concepts of intelligence, age, brain, divergent thinking and imagina-tion. On the other hand, definitions of thinking and thought concepts are given and information about creative thinking which is one of the high level thinking skills is presented. In addition, the ways of facilitating the development of creative thinking, learning-teaching environments, teacher characteris-tics are mentioned, and the duties of parents and the environment to develop and support creativity are explained. It is hoped that this study which can be considered as “a brief handbook of creativity and creative thinking” will contribute to the literature, the creativity of individuals and the development of creative thinking skills.

This study aims to identify trends in systems thinking research within the context of science education over the past decade and providing education researchers with a global perspective on the development of systems thinking. The bibliometric analysis research method is a quantitative approach used to analyze scientific literature to identify trends, publication patterns, collaborations between authors or institutions, and emerging research topics in a field of science. The data used for bibliometric analysis is the research trend of systems thinking in science learning from 2014 to 2024, based on the Scopus database, utilizing the R Package Bibliometric and VosViewer Software. The obtained articles were then processed using thematic analysis techniques with the R Bibliometric Package to analyze primary information, annual scientific publications, article citations per year, total citations of top journals, Sankey diagrams, top author production, countries with the highest productivity, most productive affiliations, and thematic maps. The findings of this study indicate that research on systems thinking in science learning has experienced an annual growth rate of 9.6% and an average citation rate of 13.6 citations per document. Furthermore, it analyzes the thematic mapping of the obtained keywords, where the motor themes in this study such as curriculum, teaching, elementary school, student learning, and system theory are well-developed and essential for shaping research in systems thinking in science learning. The thematic mapping reveals a strong interconnection among three key themes: systems thinking, science learning, and elementary schools. These themes hold significant potential and are highly relevant for further exploration due to their high centrality, yet they remain relatively underexplored to date. The study of systems thinking skills in science learning should also consider previous research findings related to sustainable development goals, climate change, gender similarity, and conceptual frameworks.

Qualitative research is inherently critical, interpretive, and multi-method in function, and Denzin and Lincoln (2005) argue that the current status of qualitative research sees the social sciences as a place for critical conversation. This highlights the task at hand for qualitative educational researchers, and their responsibility in bringing a critical view to methodology, promoting social justice, and engaging with systems of education by seeking to identify and address the problems within them. While the problems in education are complex, the application of systems thinking for identifying and solving complex problems has largely been absent. Critical Systems Theory (CST) brings a systems-thinking lens to help educational researchers understand the complex nature of educational systems and problems, while incorporating critical perspectives in both methodology and broader research objectives such as emancipation and social justice. CST is derived from both systems theory and critical social theory. In the mid-twentieth century, systems theory was established by a multidisciplinary group of researchers who believed that studies of science had become increasingly reductionist and the various disciplines isolated. The term system has been defined in various ways, but the core concept is one of relations between components, which together comprise a whole. Among the first to establish systems theory, Bertalanffy (1968) noted the existence of principles and laws that could be generalized across systems and their components regardless of the type of system or its relations to other systems. Ultimately, systems thinking entails identifying the components that make up a system, understanding relations between them, and how these components impact the larger system, external systems, and supra-systems, and vice versa. Systems theory continued to be of large influence in management sciences and research over the last half of the twentieth century, and underwent significant change, including the development of traditional (positivistic) and soft (interpretive) approaches to systems thinking. During the early 1980s, scholars called for a more critical, socially-aware approach to systems thinking and practice (Jackson, 1982; Mingers, 1980). This critical perspective was further developed based on the epistemological views of Habermas, influencing systems theory into the 1990s (Flood & Jackson, 1991; Jackson, 1991a, 1991b). Today, CST is defined by its core commitment to three ideas: critique, emancipation, and pluralism (Schecter, 1991). While CST's history has largely been within the management and operational sciences, its principles and methodological tools offer significant insight to qualitative researchers in many disciplines within social science. This is particularly true for the field of education, where many researchers are focusing on critical, emancipatory research and employing multi-methods for the proper exploration of diverse topics in education. The following section details the development of systems thinking to embrace a critical approach and how the fusion of critical and systems theory resulted in critical systems theory, a theory that merges systems thinking with a critical lens and can provide practical methods to the qualitative researcher for understanding and changing systems with inequalities. We further detail the core commitments to critique, emancipation, and pluralism that form the foundation of CST. Finally, we describe a system of system methodologies to contribute to and guide the selection of critical research methods for qualitative researchers in education. Development of Critical Systems Theory Hard Systems Thinking The early days of systems thinking represented a hard systems approach, reflecting a positivist epistemology, and the research methods focused on concepts such as prediction and control within the natural sciences. …

Background Systems thinking is a holistic approach that puts the study of wholes before that of parts. It does not try to break systems down into parts in order to understand them; instead, it focuses attention on how the parts act together in networks of interactions. Purpose This study explored the development of holistic school leadership— an approach where principals lead schools through the systems thinking concept and procedures— over principals’ different career stages, a topic that has received little research attention. Research Design Qualitative data were collected via 82 semistructured interviews, six focus groups, and 27 observations of three groups of principals: (a) prospective principals— 24 students attending three principal preparation programs; (b) novice principals— follow-up on 11 prospective principals during their first year after appointment; and (c) experienced principals— eight principals holding that position for 5+ years. Data analysis was conducted by generating themes through an inductive process of condensing, coding, categorizing, and theorizing. Findings Data analysis indicated that the development of systems thinking in school leaders consists of five stages: (a) preservice stage, typified by an expansion of view; (b) survival stage, typified by a slowdown in the development of systems thinking; (c) consolidation stage, typified by a gradual development of systems thinking; (d) role maturity stage, typified by a systemic view; and (e) possible decline stage, typified by some degree of difficulty to think systemically. Conclusions Systems thinking is not equally applicable to aspiring, novice, midcareer, and veteran school principals. This study's findings may help identify ways to enhance and accelerate the development of systems thinking in prospective and currently performing principals in a way that is compatible with the unique features and context of their specific stage.

Whoever wants to know the fruits should never lose eye of the tree bearing them. In other words, the developments of systems thinking cannot be understood without taking their cultural context into consideration. This holds also for the development of both Western and Chinese systems thinking. As the Chinese culture fundamently differs fr om the Western one, ideas of the nature, variety and history of system thinking in China and the West can thus not be the same. Even Xuesen Qian (1911-2009), father of the “metasynthesis” , a typical systems approach,[i] and Jifa Gu (1935), originator of the “wuli-shili-renli (WSR)” systems approach,[ii] seem to be unaware of the cultural ground of their intellectual products. In this article, I attempt to explain the cultural-philosophical foundation of Chinese systems thinking, because China seems to have fully understood the significance of systems science. The conclusion will be that (a) the Chinese, experts in playing go, have been systems thinkers fr om the very outset and (b) Western systems thinkers could learn something of great importance fr om them

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the presence of systems thinking after an educational proposal on climate sustainability based on reflection and video creation. To evaluate this competency, an evaluation rubric was constructed.Design/methodology/approachThis research is a case study with a mixed approach. It was carried out with 82 future teachers of Primary Education, making content analysis of the videos made. For the design of the rubric, a specific review of the literature was conducted.FindingsThe results showed that trainee teachers can identify, relate and understand interconnected processes, but have difficulties in thinking temporally or in understanding the hidden dimensions of the system. The results reveal how the development of systems thinking in the Climate Change framework is a complex learning process. The rubric created allowed us to systematize the evaluation by making it possible to assess the subskills involved.Originality/valueTo improve the development of systemic thinking, using real data linked to the consequences of this problem and ICT applications that foster an approximation to future realities is suggested. In addition, conscious and fair decision-making should be promoted on the basis of a transformative education that favors this thinking in interaction with other key competences in sustainability. The innovative rubric allows the evaluation of systemic thinking skills for the study of climate change, conceptualized from the interrelationships of the natural, social and economic dimensions and from its implications for life, on different geographical and temporal levels.

This research introduced a new method by integrating STEAM-based project learning to effectively enhance students' creative and collaborative thinking skills, which has not been widely explored in the educational context. The subjects were 14 students consisting of 8 male students and 6 female fifth grade students who were selected using purposive sampling techniques. The type of research used Classroom Action Research. Data collection was carried out by interviews, observations and tests. The data analysis techniques used qualitative and quantitative. The study results showed that The average creative thinking skill of students was increase; the average collaborative thinking skill of students was increase; and learning outcomes also increased. The the result showed that STEAM integrated project-based learning can improve creative and collaborative thinking skills as well as students' social science learning outcomes. The research also contributed by showing that the implementation of STEAM-integrated project-based learning effectively enhances students' creative and collaborative thinking skills, providing a robust framework for educators to foster innovation, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities in the classroom, ultimately preparing students for complex real-world challenges.

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of using the meta cognition strategies in teaching mathematics on the development of systemic thinking among the basic ninth grade students in Tafila Governorate. The sample of this study consisted of two female groups; experimental and control were selected from Tafila basic school for girls, and another two male groups; experimental and control were selected from Omar bin Alkhattab basic school for Boys. The analysis unit to factors and fractures was selected; teacher's guide was prepared to be used as a teaching guide. Achievement test was set up to measure the systemic thinking among the study sample, where its reliability and validity were also confirmed. The results indicated that the level of systemic thinking did not reach the level of mastery of 75%; where the average of the scores of the experimental group students was 25.28, which is considered less than proposed average of the level of mastery of 30, and with statistical significance, and with statistically significant differences between the mean scores of individuals in experimental and control groups in favor of the experimental group, and that there are statistically significant differences between males and females in favor of females. In light of these findings, the study recommends training the teachers on these strategies, and using the meta cognition teaching when developing the curricula. In addition, it recommends conducting similar studies on other variables such as creative thinking, critical thinking, and attitudes towards mathematics.

For biological researchers, systems thinking is a basic conceptual framework, and many educationalists consider systems thinking as a metacognitive skill that enables students to understand and cope with the new scientific advancements that reach our society. With this in mind, we investigated the implementation of systems thinking in upper secondary biology education in several studies. In this chapter, we report a critical appraisal of our systems modeling approach that emerged from these studies. We first lay a theoretical foundation under our emergent modeling approach which prescribes the sequence in which multiple representations should be placed in a bottom-up educational strategy. Second, we articulate two studies that both designed and evaluated the development of a learning and teaching strategy that engaged students in developing multiple representations of living systems with increasing complexity. One study focused on the development of an initial systems model in cell biology, and the other addressed the use of computer modeling as a tool in the understanding of the dynamics in ecosystems. We conclude by critically looking back at these study results in the formulation of some general recommendations about the use of multiple representations in the development of systems thinking.

This paper is concerned with the development of ‘Systems Thinking.’ In particular, it considers and critiques ‘traditional Systems Thinking’ within the framework of Critical Systems Thinking. Before embarking on such a venture it is necessary to derive a base context from which to develop argument and analysis. Therefore the outline of this paper is as follows: A contextual setting for Systems Thinking, Theoretical Considerations, Soft Systems Thinking and Methodology, and A Critical Systems Thinking (CST) approach. The account of the development of Systems Thinking is followed by a synopsis of a theoretical framework for Systems Thinking which will allow us to gain an understanding of contemporary views. The paper then goes on to review SSM and CST in order to provide a platform for a critique of traditional forms of Systems Thinking. The final section briefly discusses the applicability of CST to the ‘real-world’ context by outlining some current studies being undertaken by the author.

Students' collaborative thinking skills in the elementary schools still need attention to be improved. Most elementary school students have difficulty in cultivating this skill. Even though, this skill is one of the 21st century skills, namely 4C (creative thinking skill, critical thinking skill, communication skill and collaborative thinking skill). This study aims to improve the students collaboration thinking skills under the implementation of a cooperative learning type, namely a quantum teaching model. This research was conducted by using quasi experiment in the form of non-equivalent (pre-test and post-test) control group design. The sample in this study were students of the Integrated Islamic Elementary School, Al-Musabbihin, Medan City, totaling 55 students. To test the difference of the students' collaborative thinking skills in the control class and experiment class under the implementation of quantum teaching model, we used statistics analysis tools, namely homogeneity test and independent sample t-test. The results of Levene Statistic for homogeneity test showed a significance value of 0.762 > 0.05, which means the two classes are homogeneous. The independent sample t-test showed that the score is 0.007 < 0.05, which implies the difference between the two classes is significant. It concludes that the implementation of quantum teaching model can improve the students' collaboration thinking skills in Islamic Religious Education Learning. Therefore, increasing the teachers skills in developing quantum teaching learning materials needs to be improved simultaneously through government policy programs or independently through deliberation activities for teachers of Islamic religious education subjects.

Creative thinking and problem-solving skills are needed to face the 21st century of 4.0 industrial revolution. Improving the quality of human resources to face the era of the industrial revolution 4.0 must be developed in education. Biology as one of the subjects in high school, especially in plant growth and development matters, allows to develop creative thinking and problem-solving skills because in it there is a student project on plant growth and development. It takes the right instrument to measure the achievement of creative thinking skills and problem solving skills in Biology learning, especially on the topic of plant growth and development. Two instrument questions have been developed, namely the instrument for creative thinking skills and problem solving skills. The development of this instrument was carried out through the stages of Research and Development Borg and Gall 1983. It produced 10 essay questions measuring creative thinking skills and 8 questions measuring problem solving skills. The question gets very decent expert validation criteria with a score of 91% - 97%. The results of the validation test based on the Pearson Product Moment formula show that the ten items of creative thinking skills are valid with a significance level of 0.05. The reliability test of the two instruments has a result of 0.82, above Cronbach's Alpha coefficient, which is reliable for creative thinking skills instruments. Meanwhile, the instrument of problem solving skills showed very reliable results with Cronbach's Alpha value of 0.95.

Interdisciplinary integration facilitates the development of systemic thinking, creativity, and leadership skills necessary for students to successfully adapt to contemporary challenges. The integration of arts, computer science, and English broadens students' opportunities for self-realization and enhances the effectiveness of the educational process. The relevance of this study is driven by the need for modern education to cultivate leadership skills among students that respond to the challenges of globalization, rapid technological advancements, and dynamic social realities. Leadership skills, such as critical thinking, initiative, communication, and teamwork, are key factors in personal development, socialization, and competitiveness in the modern world. The use of interdisciplinary integration in the educational process acts as an effective tool for creating conditions that foster the comprehensive development of these competencies, ensuring students' holistic worldview and their ability to address complex interdisciplinary tasks. The aim of the article is to explore the potential of integrating arts, computer science, and English in developing leadership skills among students in general secondary education institutions. The research utilized analysis of scientific publications and regulatory documents addressing interdisciplinary integration and leadership skill development, observation of educational processes, and synthesis of practical experience in project-based learning. The study substantiates the significance of interdisciplinary integration in forming leadership skills, such as initiative, creativity, critical thinking, communication, and teamwork. An example of the integrated project "Castles and Fortresses of Ukrainian Heritage" is detailed. This project aims to foster civic awareness, social and digital competencies. It combines research into cultural and historical heritage, the creation of informational booklets using digital tools, and presenting results in English.

This chapter provides a comprehensive exploration of Systems Thinking, a holistic framework for understanding and addressing complex challenges in contemporary society. Beginning with an overview of the historical development of Systems Thinking, the chapter examines its foundational principles, methodologies, and practical applications across diverse fields. Through case studies and examples, the chapter illustrates how Systems Thinking can inform decision-making processes and facilitate sustainable solutions to systemic issues such as climate change, healthcare, and urban planning. Furthermore, the chapter delves into teaching Strategies and practical exercises for integrating Systems Thinking concepts into high school curricula, offering insights from educators and examples of classroom activities. Ultimately, the chapter underscores the importance of Systems Thinking in fostering critical thinking skills, systems awareness, and collaborative problem-solving abilities, both in education and beyond.