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Networks |  The concepts as described are courtesy of the Center for Ecoliteracy. |
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Nested Systems |
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Cycles |
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Flows |
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Development |
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Dynamic Balance |
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| Networks |
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In nature ... All members of an ecological community are interconnected in a vast and intricate network of relationships, the web of life. They derive their essential properties and, in fact, their very existence from these relationships. |
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In schools ...
A network of interdependency, diversity, and complexity allows for member districts to become "critical friends" and colleagues. Classroom relationships are where fundamental change can and does occur. The people and the ways in which the people work together create the network. The network increases diversity and linkages among students, professionals and communities. |
| Nested Systems |
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Throughout nature we find multi-leveled structures of systems nesting within systems. Each of these forms an integrated whole within a boundary while at the same time being a part of a larger whole. | All districts in the North Coast Rural Challenge Network are geographically isolated, but each district has a unique community supporting it. Aspects of each local community are part of each school and district. We preserve the unique qualities of each geographic area, being mindful of the pedagogy of place, but we use technology as one pathway to unite separate communities into a larger learning community. |
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| Cycles |
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The interactions among the members of an ecological community involve the exchange of energy and resources in continual cycles. The cycles in an ecosystem intersect with larger cycles in the bioregion and in the planetary biosphere. | Projects, events, and collaborations begin, develop, change, and grow just like the children who move through our schools year by year. We have continual opportunities to change and adapt as our communities and children change. These cycles are continuous in education as in life. We know that it is essential for people to make that personal connection with one another before collaborations work. We begin with face-to-face meetings. The fostering of this human interaction needs to be easy and convenient. Technology helps make this possible. Networks of people and technology are required to support relationship and integrations. |
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| Flows |
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All organisms are open systems, which means that they need to feed on a continual flow of energy and resources to stay alive. The constant flow of solar energy sustains life and drives all ecological cycles. | The sharing of human and technological resources allows each member of the network to expand its current educational capacity. As our communities and schools co-evolve, our children are nurtured and strengthened to understand and participate in the future of their communities. Our children ultimately become the resource for sustaining our local and national democracy. Staff and curriculum development is an on-going and necessary process which is integrated into every aspect of this project. |
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| Development |
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The unfolding of life, manifesting as development and learning at the individual level and as evolution at the species level, involves an interplay of creativity and mutual adaptation in which organisms and environment co-evolve. |
Development within NCRCN is interconnected. Networks of relationships nesting within other networks are geometrically expanded when students, teachers, schools, and communities share in the interplay and creativity. Each network district is already part of other educational networks. Each community has ethnic or historical groups within it. These affiliations cause us to grow and evolve. | ||
| Dynamic Balance |
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All ecological cycles act as feedback loops, so that the ecological community regulates and organizes itself, maintaining a state of dynamic balance characterized by continual fluctuations. | The community and the network continue to organize and regulate themselves, maintaining a state of dynamic balance characterized by continual fluctuations. The change and restructuring process is ongoing and continuous. Schools must continually adapt to meet the needs of the evolving community. Schools and communities are inseparable. Long-term survival of local communities and national democracy depend on the inter-connectedness of schools and community to shape our future. |
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| Released: July, 2001 | Contact: webmaster |  |
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