Absolutely. Broadly, I wonder what leads to schools not adopting emerging fields as part of the formal curriculum. Interesting to note even in 2021, only 51% US k12 high schools were found to have a CS course. Does not seem like a capital problem to me. Is this just inertia or a legibility problem?

I'm inclined to say it's mostly inertia.

As with any monopoly, the incentives for public school administrators are all out of wack. Adding a CS curricula takes real time and effort (lost summer vacation time, effort required to convince the board/PTA, picking a curriculum, hiring teachers for an unfamiliar topic). It brings with it real risks and headaches (budget issues, vulnerability/ignorance in a new domain, possible failure/embarrassment, board/PTA conflict, dissatisfied students/parents). Meanwhile the benefits are not tangible and the cost of not implementing a new CS curriculum is zero.

For public school administrators (as with all process owners) it's far easier to simply repeat what they did last year.

Oof yeah. The legibility-gained per effort put in for most admins working in a system that inherently incentivises tangibility and observable "utility" (whatever that may be in this case) reduces any hope of seeing much change.

Maybe this is another good problem that Systems Sciences might hold a great explanation too :-O.

Thanks!

Who will teach them?

I was expecting someone mentioning this very good book. In a time where politics is dominated by populism, this should be part of the school curriculum. Reality is complex. There are often no easy or simple solutions to get a certain number up or down. Even the author of this book writes that being an expert in systems science does not give her the superpower of never being surprised by outcomes. But being able to think in systems is still a very valuable ability. A lot of humbleness and appreciation for complexity can be gained from reading this book.

It wont make any diff cause most people dont want to think. And those who feel like thinking, love to think about very different things.

As problems get more complex this is the main headache -keeping everyone in the same boat rowing in same direction.

> It wont make any diff cause most people dont want to think.

On what basis do you say this? What exactly do you mean?

I don't mind that the above claim is cynical. But I think it is (a) wildly overconfident and (b) poorly reasoned. Check your biases. Also check your pain points -- would I be crazy to guess that you've become jaded about student's ability to learn, think, and/or care about education?

Next, consider a specific scenario so we're not talking past each other. Let's say 5% of high schools decide to teach Thinking in Systems. Say they get a grant so that someone experienced (in the book and subject matter) comes in and teaches for a few weeks as a special topic (at no cost to the school).

Now, think statistically and empirically. What kinds of effects will there be on students? If you are intellectually honest, you'll have to ask questions, maybe even gather some data. If you put some effort into thinking, you probably won't conclude there will be zero effect.