The authors use a theory by Bateson, who makes several assertions about change and sustainability in ecologies. Using Bateson and this experience, the authors articulate three lessons:
1. “we had to begin thinking of change as a complex web created by transacting loops of information” (6)
“an ecology of the mind consists of a complex web or network…within which no single element has unilateral control over an entire interaction. Rather, control is distributed throughout the whole improvisatory ensemble” (6). Every point in this twisty process required all players to be responsive to constantly emerging forces, sometimes by leading, sometimes by following. We had to become Bateson’s (1979) flexible organism because, as he argued, it is not the organism best suited to its environment which survives; the organism which survives is the organism with the most flexible responses to unexpected fluctuations in its complex environment” (7)
2. "we had to perceive information in Batesonian terms (as news of difference, or the differences that make a difference)” (6)
“A complex web coheres as a result of information circulation, and information important enough to circulate is what Bateson (1972/1987) defined as news of difference or ‘difference which makes a difference’ (p. 315). Agents in a system perceive a bit of stimuli as important - as information - on the basis of that which is essential to their survival or their immediate concerns within the system” (7).
3. “we had to remind ourselves continually that change was emergent, not progressive” (6)
“Bateson (1979), however, insisted that evolution must be understood as a circular or recursive process, in which new ecological situations constantly emerge but cannot at any time be characterized uniformly as progress, because an improvement in one place may lead to complications in other places. Any emerging change must lead to re-evaluation of all previous changes…Program change is equally emergent in two ways: one, it is lodged within a material situation, and, two, that material situation coheres in a complex web of interdependencies” (9).
There is no beginning to a (story of) change. “Instead, our story emerges as a continuation of several stories that might—thinking atomistically—be seen as separate, but in fact—thinking holistically—are intrinsically connected” (6).
Thereby, when attempting to change something within a program, we must think spatially, rhetorically, and temporally (the when and how of change) (17).
Two Other Claims
- “technology does not dictate to or shape its users; rather, users, within a certain set of affordances, use the technology to enact their own agendas, or their lack of agendas. Thus, providing these laptop-ready classrooms—the environment—did not ensure that the new media pedagogy would survive as we envisioned” (11)
- “An organism in its environment is, by nature, unique, operating by its own set of rules to survive and adapt to its environment. However, Bateson (1972/1987) argued that what organisms learn to do or be in one context to survive can also apply in other contexts. He claimed that we suss out the ‘rules’ that guide behavior in a particular situation and act in response to those discoveries to survive, if not flourish, in that situation” (16).
Sustainability
“sustainability relies on news of difference flowing inside the department, outside, and in between. And sustainability relies on constantly looking for the next small, logical step, so that - in the context of the complex web - there is continual feedback, clarification, and course correction. Without this flow of information, the ecology cannot be sustained” (14).
Key Terms
- Stochastic: “random or unexpected events that occur within a set of limitations so that only some components, and not others, endure” (7)
- Deutero-learning: “learning not in a context but, instead, about contexts” (16)