Compassionate Systems
Compassionate Systems
Compassionate Systems
The International Baccalaureate Organization (known as the IB) offers four high-quality
and challenging educational programmes for a worldwide community of schools, aiming
to create a better, more peaceful world. This publication is one of a range of materials
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To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop
challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.
These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong
learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
IB learner profile
profile IB learner
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IB learner profile H E IB L E AR
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er profile IB learn
PROFILE
IB learner profile
The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common
humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.
As IB learners we strive to be:
We nurture our curiosity, developing skills for inquiry and We critically appreciate our own cultures and personal histories,
research. We know how to learn independently and with others. as well as the values and traditions of others. We seek and evaluate
We learn with enthusiasm and sustain our love of learning a range of points of view, and we are willing to grow from the
throughout life. experience.
We develop and use conceptual understanding, exploring We show empathy, compassion and respect. We have a
knowledge across a range of disciplines. We engage with issues commitment to service, and we act to make a positive difference
and ideas that have local and global significance. in the lives of others and in the world around us.
We use critical and creative thinking skills to analyse and take We approach uncertainty with forethought and determination;
responsible action on complex problems. We exercise initiative in we work independently and cooperatively to explore new ideas
making reasoned, ethical decisions. and innovative strategies. We are resourceful and resilient in the
face of challenges and change.
We express ourselves confidently and creatively in more than one
language and in many ways. We collaborate effectively, listening We understand the importance of balancing different aspects of
carefully to the perspectives of other individuals and groups. our lives—intellectual, physical, and emotional—to achieve
well-being for ourselves and others. We recognize our interde-
pendence with other people and with the world in which we live.
We act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of
fairness and justice, and with respect for the dignity and rights We thoughtfully consider the world and our own ideas and expe-
of people everywhere. We take responsibility for our actions rience. We work to understand our strengths and weaknesses in
and their consequences. order to support our learning and personal development.
The IB learner profile represents 10 attributes valued by IB World Schools. We believe these attributes, and others
like them, can help individuals and groups become responsible members of local, national and global communities.
Introduction 1
About compassionate systems 1
This resource demonstrates one way to bring together the four key elements of the WIAIBE graphic—the
learner profile, international-mindedness, the approaches to learning and the approaches to teaching—
into an active learning experience.
In an increasingly uncertain world, where challenges reach beyond borders, there has never been a greater
need to cultivate compassion in our understanding and in our actions.
Compassionate systems represent one way to utilize the cognitive and affective aspects of the learner
profile and the approaches to learning skills. Social and emotional learning (SEL), combined with an
understanding of systems and complexity, can establish a cognitive and affective foundation for
“international-mindedness.”
A variety of systems thinking tools, such as the ladder of inference, stock-flow diagrams and systems
archetypes, can help reveal how different parts of an IB education relate to the whole and how elements
that at first glance are seemingly unrelated actively influence each other.
Integrating SEL thinking can help with the development of an empathetic and emotional understanding of
these issues, which is combined with the intellectual understanding provided by complex systems thinking.
In this context compassion is the combination of practical systems thinking with emotional understanding.
It is the capacity to exhibit meaningful empathy and caring for people who are impacted by the unintended
consequences of human behaviour within larger, interconnected systems.
This resource is divided into three parts.
Pedagogical questions
The compassionate systems resource helps to address two key pedagogical questions.
• How do we help young people to develop the capacity to cope with the scale and complexity of
today’s issues?
• How do we help young people to develop solutions that are both effective and compassionate?
The compassionate systems diagram captures the idea that applying both systems thinking and social and
emotional tools enables students to build a deeper understanding and connection to issues of significance
and relevance, encouraging solutions that are both effective and compassionate. This approach draws on
both cognitive and affective aspects of all the learner profile attributes (represented by the head and the
heart within the diagram), with emphasis on the intersection between thinking (as it relates to systems and
complexity tools) and caring (as it relates to social and emotional tools). The tools themselves are available
in the “compassionate systems tools” section of this resource.
Figure 1
The IB compassionate systems diagram
This work shows what can happen when leading experts and the IB community innovate together.
The concept for compassionate systems emerged from a meeting at an IB conference in 2015 where Peter
Senge, Mette Boell and IB learning and teaching staff identified the two key questions above. This meeting
was followed by a more extensive discussion at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which
included leading experts in the fields of systems thinking and compassion. This discussion resulted in the
initial iteration of the compassionate systems diagram.
Figure 2
The first iteration of the compassionate systems diagram, developed at MIT and later refined for general use
within the IB compassionate systems approach
The ideas generated in that meeting, including the compassionate systems diagram, were then presented
to a small group of IB educators from schools around the world, including schools from Asia, Africa, the
Middle East, Europe and the USA. Educators were trained in the use of a range of systems and social and
emotional tools in ways that focus on the development of compassion, then developed initial prototypes
for applying the approach.
An IB education centres on learners, develops effective approaches to teaching and learning,
works within global contexts and explores significant content. Working together, these four
characteristics define an IB education
What is an IB education? 2015
After putting those prototypes into practice, educators from the pilot schools all reported transformational
teaching moments that united all the elements of an IB education into powerful learning experiences.
Snapshots of some of the experiences of those schools can be found in the “compassionate systems in
practice” section of this resource.
Contributors
Thanks to the following thinkers for their work with the IB in generating the ideas that underpin this
compassionate systems resource.
• Professor Peter Senge and his team at MIT, working in systems thinking and leadership
• Professor Mark Greenberg and his team at Pennsylvania State University working in social and
emotional learning
• Dr Mette Boell visiting research scientist and her team at The Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab
(J-WEL), MIT
• Garrison Collaboration for Integrative Learning, working in social fields
• The Innovation Academy Charter School, Boston and their associates
Further thanks to the IB World Schools that piloted the compassionate systems approach.
• SEK schools in Qatar and Madrid
• Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa
• International School of Zug and Luzern, Switzerland
• Sha Tin College, Hong Kong
This section of the guide provides an introduction to each of the tools that can be used in the classroom by
teachers utilising the compassionate systems approach. The tools cover a wide range of activities and can
be used with all students of all ages. Programme-specific examples have been given but generally tools can
be adapted for use at all stages of the pedagogical process and repeated if and when necessary.
Each compassionate systems thinking tool is designed to help students to understand a complex concept,
problem or challenge and apply a compassionate lens to it. The teacher then further focuses on the
compassionate elements of the problem through appropriate questioning and by developing a personal
anchor within the content being studied. Through this methodology, the schools found that a
compassionate thinking “habit” develops in students, leading to a more internationally minded approach
to global issues.
The following table lists the tools that have been the most helpful for schools in fostering compassionate
systems thinking. Each row contains a link to a description of the tool and how to use it, a downloadable
blank version of the tool to use directly in the classroom, and links to associated school stories for real-life
examples of the successful implementation of each tool.
Approach
The approach is to cultivate the capacity for seeing and sensing the larger system, with all its
interdependence and interconnectedness, and all the unintended consequences of human behaviour that
we reinforce daily.
The schools found that developing the skills to deal with their own emotional systems helps students to
avoid becoming overwhelmed or “emotionally hijacked” by their immediate empathic responses to all the
suffering and anxiety that surrounds us. Learners develop a genuine sense of curiosity and openness, the
hallmark of a systems thinker, and the cultivated experience of connectedness which is the hallmark of
a compassionate systems thinker.
• encourages students to reflect on how their own behaviour, thoughts and feelings or those of others
can be impacted by events around them
• promotes understanding of multiple perspectives, and feeling of empathy for others leads to a sense
of connectedness. Students are then able to think and act compassionately
• allows students to look at trends over time using group behaviour as an influential factor in making
informed decisions
• helps students to build leadership capacity by learning how to understand the behavioural pattern of
a smaller and bigger community
• enables students to visually track the trends of their own behaviour, the behaviour of their team and at
the same time use a comparative behaviour over time chart to juxtapose their behaviour over time to
another community from another part of the world
• helps students compare and contrast using critical thinking skills by analysing behaviour.
Programme-specific implementation
For an example, see Compassionate systems in practice.
PYP
Tracking character emotions during a story.
Human migration: together with a simulation this tool can be used to compare the numbers of migrants
entering a country and how this is impacted by changes in law and policies.
DP
Students can track their feelings/behaviours throughout the extended essay.
CP
Looking locally in Dubai at the problem of litter in the desert; this tool may be used to help develop ideas
for service learning.
Students can track their feelings and behaviours throughout the reflective project.
Connection circles
Programme-specific implementation
For an example, see Compassionate systems in practice.
PYP
Habitats: Caring for animals and protecting their habitats ensures the well-being of human ecosystems.
Human migration: What are the push and pull factors related to human migration and how do these impact
the number of migrants coming into and leaving a country?
Explaining why a decision has been made in a classroom situation.
MYP
Water shortages: Looking at how the bed nets used to fight malaria are contributing to a lack of clean and
safe water in Tanzania.
DP
Factors that affect equilibrium position and concentration for a system in dynamic equilibrium.
Geography (option F: food and health): Looking at how food availability differs in High Income
Countries /Low Income Countries (HIC/LICs).
CP
Looking locally in Dubai at the problem of litter in the desert; this tool may be used to help develop ideas
for service learning.
Programme-specific implementation
For an example, see Compassionate systems in practice.
PYP
Walk for water
Hunger banquet
Migration dice simulation
Adaptation and survival: Mammoth dice simulation
Ladder of connectedness
Programme-specific implementation
For an example, see Compassionate systems in practice.
PYP
Habitat unit (Grade 2): Students can assess how connected they feel to ecosystem destruction.
MYP
Water shortages: Looking at how the mosquito nets used to fight malaria in Tanzania have contributed to a
lack of lack of clean and safe water in Tanzania.
Disease diffusion and barriers: Understanding the problem of disease and how disease in one part of the
world relates to us globally.
DP
Geography (option F: food and health): Looking at how food availability differs in HIC/LICs.
Geography (option F: food and health): Disease (diffusion and barriers), understanding the problem of
disease and how disease in one part of the world relates to us globally.
CP
Looking locally in Dubai at the problem of litter in the desert; this tool may be used to help develop ideas
for service learning. Do students relate to the problem, does it concern them?
Ideas for the reflective project: Looking at the ethical issue of child labour. Where do they stand on a
compassionate level in relation to this issue?
Ladder of inference
• increases awareness of how decisions are formed and what impact this can have on others in local and
global contexts. This encourages balanced and reflective views alongside awareness
of principled actions
• develops an increased understanding in students of the need for appropriate data, in context, for
them to be able to develop an informed opinion
• encourages dialectic discussion and thinking
• prompts students to understand and practise the feelings of “being in someone else's shoes” before
making decisions or forming judgment
• offers students a chance to participate in a well-rounded process for exploring and understanding
perspectives, stances, circumstances and behaviours
• guides students in applying a rich context for gathering and analysing facts and knowledge
• challenges students on widely held opinions in an international context and, in conjunction with other
tools (systems iceberg, for example), can highlight bias and encourage them to be
genuinely knowledgeable.
Programme-specific implementation
For an example, see Compassionate systems in practice.
PYP
Food/hunger: Why are people suffering from food shortages? Are members of the local
community struggling to obtain enough food?
Water: Gallery picture walk around the world to explore assumptions about which community has access to
clean water.
Human migration: What initial awareness and assumptions do students have in relation to migrants? Once
appropriate data is considered how do student assumptions evolve?
Beliefs: How do your own experiences affect the judgments you make on others?
Reading: Why did this character act in the way that they did? Where are they on the ladder of inference?
Conflict resolution: Students use the ladder of inference to examine their own and others’ actions.
MYP
Individuals and societies: Students make assumptions on the high numbers of deaths still evident as a result
of malaria in Tanzania.
DP
English literature: Character analysis. Examining character feelings and actions.
CP
Introduction to the reflective project: Students are exposed to the ethical issues surrounding the
implementation of bed nets. Students are asked to make assumptions on the aid given and the outcome
experienced in Tanzania.
Programme-specific implementation
For an example, see Compassionate systems in practice.
PYP
Food/hunger: Used to examine hunger and food insecurity (stock). What things can add to hunger (inflow)?
What things can help reduce hunger (outflow)?
Human migration: What are the push and pull factors related to human migration and how do these impact
the number of migrants coming into and leaving a country?
MYP
Water shortages: Looking at how the bed nets used to fight malaria are now contributing to a lack of clean
and safe water in Tanzania.
DP
Factors that affect equilibrium position and concentration for a system in dynamic equilibrium.
Geography (option F: food and health): Looking at how food availability differs in HIC/LICs.
CP
Service learning: Looking locally at the problem of litter in the desert; this tool may be used to help develop
ideas for service learning.
Systems iceberg
Programme-specific implementation
For an example, see Compassionate systems in practice.
MYP
Students look at examples of stories affecting developing nations that appear in the media headlines. Using
the iceberg tool students understood that it was only the “visible 10%” that had been reported in the
media. For example, the drought in Sudan, famine caused by drought, poor water distribution, political
mistrust and a range of diverse factors lower down the iceberg. From a compassionate standpoint, how
should students watching the news reports react after knowing the full iceberg picture? Consider the
ladder of connectedness as well: where are you on the ladder? Why?
Check-ins
Programme-specific implementation
For an example, see Compassionate systems in practice.
A simple example:
Students come into class in the morning. After some breathing exercises, journaling or a short meditation/
mindfulness activity, students consider the questions:
• How are you feeling this morning?
• What has moved you (emotionally)?
• What are your aspirations for the day ahead?
Students then get into groups to share the answers. Teacher asks if any themes are coming through,
whether there are similarities or connections between students’ own feelings and aspirations and those of
others.
Schools are busy places and with so many new and ongoing initiatives happening it can often be
challenging to introduce another idea or pedagogical approach. This section illustrates some of the ways
the pilot schools implemented the compassionate systems tools and approach. It covers the background
and context of the individual schools, what tools they used and reflections on successes and failures.
Schools also share their recommendations on how to undertake a successful journey in compassionate
systems.
The following table lists the schools that have shared their experience in setting up the compassionate
systems approach and what their vignette relates to. Each row shows the school which took part and the
experience their project focused on.
The compassionate systems approach is being discussed in IB Communities. Log on via the programme
resource centre to take part in the conversation.
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