Transformative, Systemic Learning in Agronomic Research and Education

Abstract A more holistic perspective concerning benefits of farms to society was envisioned for research and education relevant to current Science Frontiers of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA). A transformative approach in which interdisciplinary research contributed to productive and sustainable agricultural systems in the world was proposed. Career experiences of the author revealed both challenges and opportunities inherent to holistic approaches involving the contrasting worldviews represented among multiple research disciplines and diverse stakeholders. The objectives were (1) develop a learning system that accommodated diverse disciplinary knowledge and human values and affect in the context of agroecosystems and (2) relate a model of systemic learning to research and education relevant to the ASA Science Frontiers. The author's holistic perspective of learning emerged during a shift from purposive learning, which emphasized goal-oriented research and education focused on systems in the world, to purposeful and critical learning about learning itself. Models of systemic learning were developed to represent relationships among learner experiences and worldviews, affective phenomena, cognition, and action. Metalearning about systemic learning itself, including relationships of culture, ethics, and politics to worldviews of stakeholders, contributed to the transformative nature of the systemic learning models. Critical evaluations of the systemic learning models provided a seminal example of an epistemology for integrating human values, norms, and affective phenomena during research and education relevant to ASA Science Frontiers.