Jaimie P. Cloud, President cloudinstitute

The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education © 2012. Do not distribute without express permission of the author.

Inspiring young people to think about the world, their relationship to it, and their ability to

influence it in an entirely new way.

Jaimie P. Cloud, Presidentwww.cloudinstitute.org


Workshop OutcomesParticipants will:

1) Develop a shared understanding and vocabulary of Sustainability and Education for Sustainability (EfS)

2) Become inspired and hopeful about contributing to the shift toward a sustainable future through education


What is a simulation?


Fish Game GuideWe are going to run a swordfish fishing industry! Each person in the group will be fishing for swordfish in the same ocean. Assign the envelope of fish to a banker (“nature”) in the group of players. The banker will put 20 fish in the middle of the table. Twenty fish is this ocean’s carrying capacity for swordfish.

In each round, each person can fish for a certain number of swordfish. Traditionally, people fish for swordfish in the three following ways:

1) Harpoon fishing: take one fish

2) Long-line fishing: take two fish

3) Free-for-all long-line fishing: take three fish

Each turn, each person can take up to three fish, depending on the instructions for that game.


Fish Instructions (cont’d)After each round when all players have taken their fish, the banker (“nature”) will count the number of swordfish left and add 25% to the pot, up to, but not exceeding, 20 fish (round up if you need to).

Example: If there are 12 fish left, 3 fish (25% of 12) will be added to the pot, bringing the total up to 15. (In real life, swordfish produce far fewer than 25% new offspring each year—they are like humans in that they have few children over the course of their lifetimes.)

The added fish represent the number of baby swordfish made by the swordfish that were left after everyone has taken their fish (the ones thatwere left in the ocean to reproduce).

The object of each game: To have as many fish as possible after playing all 10 rounds.


Game InstructionsWe will play the game four times, each a different way:

Game 1: Everyone chooses a fishing technique at the beginning of the game and sticks with it until the end of the game

Game 2: Everyone chooses a fishing technique, but can change technique each turn during the game


Fish GameGame Recorder

RoundConsumption

(# Fish You Took This Round)

Accumulation (Total # Fish You Have)

Fish Stock (# Fish in the Ocean

After Restocking)

1

2

3

4

5

6

789

10


What can be learned from playing the Fish Game?

De-Briefing the Experience


What were you thinking?

Thinking Drives Behaviorand

Behavior Causes Results


How Many of You

Made it through all 10 rounds in every game you played?


What happened?

If your group ran out of fish before you were able to play 10 rounds, then the number of

Fisher folk fishing the way you did resulted in more fish taken from the ocean faster than

the ocean was able to replenish them.

We call that unsustainable.


We wouldn’t need Education for Sustainability if

there was no such thing as un-sustainable


What were you thinking?

Now that you know that something you did

or didn’t do contributed to “crashing the system,”

Why did you do it?


The Ladder of Inference

I take ACTIONS based on my beliefs

I adopt BELIEFS about the world

I draw CONCLUSIONS

I make ASSUMPTIONS based on the

meaning I added

I add MEANINGS (cultural & personal)

I select “DATA” from what I observe

OBSERVABLE “DATA” and EXPERIENCES

(as a video camera might capture it)

“THE BOX”SchemaHabit of MindMental ModelMindsetMental MapHardwiringFrameParadigm

“Our prior experiences

with the world inform what we can

perceive”-Lisa Feldman

Source: The Fifth Discipline(Peter Senge)


How Do Mental Models Affect Us and the World Around Us?

“Everything that happens is reported to the brain as absolute fact.”

(Langer)

“Most people make sense to themselves.” (Jones)


The Results of These Classic Mental Models

• We often operate without the information we need• We ignore/can’t see the feedback (believing is seeing)

“If we cannot hear or see feedback, we cannot perceive relevant data for our brains to filter” - Ochsner

• We exhibit characteristics of insanity

• Our “fixes” backfire on us or we shift the burden


Fix that Backfires Archetype

Unintended Consequence…Level Fish Stock Depleted

Gap

FIX/Action…Number of Fish I Catch

Current State…Number of Fish I Have

Desired State….To have as many fish as possible by the end of

10 rounds

Delay

0


Behavior Over Time40

0 10

Tota

l # o

f F

ish

Time (Rounds)

Indiv Accumulation Fish Stock Group Accumulation


Behavior Over Time

Individual Accumulation Fish Stock Group Accumulation

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Time (Rounds)

Total # Fish 36

32

28

24

20

16

12

8

4

0

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Time (Rounds)

Total # Fish 36

32

28

24

20

16

12

8

4

0

Unsustainable Example Sustainable Example


www.footprintnetwork.org/download.php?id=7654


“All systems are perfectly designed

to get the results they get.”(Richmond)


“It is worth noting that this is not the work

of ignorant people.” (Orr)


It all begins with a change in thinking


Closing the Gap

Brainstorm ActivityIn small groups, brainstorm the mental models,

behaviors, and strategies required to make the shift toward sustainability.


Mental Modelsfor a Sustainable Future

Practical Idealist

A healthy and sustainable future is possible.


We Are All In This Together

We are all interdependent on each other and on the natural systems upon which all life depends.




Live by the Natural Laws

We must operate within natural “laws” and principles rather than attempt to overcome them.

It’s non-negotiable.



Healthy Systems Have Limits

Tap the power of limits

Note: Please do not confuse the mental model of scarcity with the reality of limits.



Reciprocity Rules

In the context of interdependence, self interests are best served through mutually beneficial relationships.



We Are All Responsible

Everything we do, and everything we don’t do, makes a difference.


Shifting Mental Models • Mental models shift with experience,

by asking different questions, through story telling, with the creative process, and more...

• Some mental models are easier to shift than others. (Ask Copernicus.)

• The mental models of children and young people change over time with new knowledge and applied insight.

• Do the mental models of adults change over time with new knowledge and applied insight?


Sustainability

“The possibility that human and other life will flourish on the planet forever”

John R. Ehrenfeld


Sustainability

"A sustainable society is one that is far-seeing enough,

flexible enough, and wise enough not to undermine either its physical

or its social systems of support.” Donella Meadows


Enduring Understandings


Education for Sustainability (EfS) The Cloud Institute’s Framework


Why Educate for Sustainability?

We have to learn how to live well in our places without undermining their ability to sustain us over time.

The foundations of our knowledge, skills, and habits of mind are cultivated in our schools.


Leveraging Systemic Change Events

Trends/Patterns

Structures/ Behaviors

Mental Models/Worldview

React

Respond

Design

Transform

Source: The Fifth Discipline(Peter Senge)


Questions to Consider

1. What are we already doing?

2. What might we want to change?

3. What do we need to stop doing?

4. What do we need to start doing?


The Learning Self


The Learning Self

Core Attitudes

Motivation Sense of Self

Ethics

Potential

&

Purpose

Brain & Mind

Personal Story Learning

Styles

Multiple Intelligences

Empathy

CompassionMindfulness


The Learning SelfCore Processes and Skills

Deep Learning & Deep Thinking

Engaging Diversity

Participation & Leadership

Applied Systems Thinking

Visioning, Lateral Thinking & Creativity


The Learning SelfCore Knowledge

Cultural Preservation and TransformationResponsible Local/

Global Citizenship

Dynamics of Systems and Change

Natural Laws and Ecological Principles

Sustainable Economics Inventing and

Affecting the Future

Multiple Perspectives

Strong Sense of Place

Healthy Commons


Authentic Instruction & Assessment

Learner-Centered

Place-Based

Standards Based

Project-Based Interdisciplinary

Applied Learning

Assessment-Driven

Cooperative Learning

Constructivist Approach to Teaching

Service Learning

Understanding by Design

Differentiated

Reflective Practice

Inquiry-based

Writing Process

The Learning Classroom

Technology Integration


In schools that learn, everyone is encouraged to keep thinking, innovating, collaborating, talking

candidly, improving their capabilities, self-correcting, and making personal commitments

to a shared future…

Schools that Learn for EfS


Green buildings, regenerative designs, green rooftops, no waste, energy efficiency, use of regional materials, healthiness, cost

savings, recycled materials, social and environmental responsibility…

Physical Plant, Procurement, and Investments for EfS


The U Theory of Learning and ChangeTap Prior

Knowledge

Learn Something

New

Re-Appraise/Re-Frame

Reflect and Gain Insight

Read the Feedback, Revise &

Continuously Improve

Immediately Apply New Learning to Make it “Stick”

(Otto Scharmer)


Innovation Adoption Curve


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Jaimie P. Cloud, President cloudinstitute

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