Observers of the world: Primary grade students imagining solutions for broken environmental and social systems

Systems thinking is a holistic framework recognizing the natural and human worlds as interconnected and interdependent. A systems thinking perspective using multimodal literacies can help children address current environmental, social, and economic problems. This qualitative case study captures the possibilities for young children’s expansive and sustained critical thinking across content areas. We asked how do teachers and students in a K-1 classroom apply a systems thinking view of the world’s interconnectedness using multimodal literacy practices to analyze problematic social and ecological issues? During a one-year period, data collection included classroom observations, photographs, student artifacts, and interviews with teachers and students analyzed through distinctions, systems, relationships, and perspectives (Cabrera and Colosi, 2008). We found that students made connections and explored relationships within and across complex systems, imagined solutions to broken systems, and developed as change agents. This article captures children’s ability to be agentive when facing “wicked problems.” These findings demonstrate the capacity of young children to make connections, see relationships, and wrestle with complex social and environmental issues as they develop imaginative solutions.