Teaching the unteachable

Sometimes I get the nagging suspicion that there may be some things that are “unteachable.” Ironically, those things may be the most important things we want to teach, things like maturity, emotional intelligence, faith, and the usable part of systems theory—that part which we are able to actually live and apply and not merely “know something about.”

There are two educational thoughts that challenge my occasional suspicion. Those are: (1) you can teach anybody anything in twenty minutes, and (2) “any subject could be taught to any child at any age in some form that is honest.” (Bruner, pp. ix, 33, 47) While number one may not be provable, the second has the weight of research and evidence behind it.

Teaching systems theory, or faith for that matter, remains a pedagogical challenge. They require, I think, acquisition in the modality of the affect rather than the cognitive. Realistically it requires both, of course, and we often make a false dichotomy out of the difference between “doing” and “knowing.” But the basic educational question, “What constitutes learning?” may tip the scale to one side or the other.

This may be why the modalities of coaching, therapy, and more formal educational approaches of group work and case study continues to prove more effective to helping people “get it” when it comes to systems theory than are lectures, workshops, courses, or even, to a certain extent, “reading about it” (though for certain reasons I think “reading about it” tends to be qualitatively far more effective than the others). And this is why the use of movies and stories in teaching systems theory is not only appropriate, but necessary. Narrative’s venue is the affect, and narrative—whether provided by the teacher or solicited from the learner—is a direct pipeline into the intuitive and the psyche. There is no quicker way to intuitively “get” a concept or truth than to experience it through narrative (what often is referred to as “story”). In fact, recently someone asked if I’d ever used Friedman’s Fables to teach systems in a congregational setting. I admitted that I had and that it was probably the most effective way I’ve found to do so in the congregational setting—this after attempting earlier to do so via a traditional classroom “teaching-by-telling” approach which had the predictable result of being “interesting” but non-transformative and benign.

So, can you teach children systems theory? The fact is that they probably already “know” it since they are experiencing it in the emotional process of family and the other relationship systems of which they are a part (school, church, sports teams, etc.). They are already experiencing the “narrative” through the story of their lives. They just don’t have the articulated concepts that frame and understanding for it. Using movies (a form of story that uses narrative) is a great tool to help teens, and children, to acquire understanding of systems theory (for the same reasons that it is also one of the most effective ways to teach adults—especially given the fact that the majority of adults function at the concrete operations level of cognitive process).

One good movie I stumbled upon recently for “teaching systems” is “The Mighty” (1998) This is a coming-of-age story that has everything (including a great cast): good story, plot, and acting. Plus, it highlights some basic concepts in Bowen Family Systems Theory: reciprocal relationships (parent and child, between friends), family of origin issues, family secrets, self-definition, differentiation, systemic change as a result of a self-defined presence, and others. Highly recommended. It can make for a great study resource for a youth retreat, or even with children (ages 11 and up).

“Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.”