Critical action research as a transforming feedback loop in a complex adaptive system. This figure illustrates how the "Look-Think-Act" cycle can structure feedback loops to support sustainability in complex adaptive systems. 

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... principles are at work in social organizations (e.g., Byrne, 1998; Sawyer, 2005). Leaders in organizational development also point to individual and collective learning as the central processes whereby system participants evaluate feedback, revise their actions, and sustain adaptive change (e.g., Dixon, 1999; Senge, 1994; Senge, et al., 1999). In other words, a human system can sustain itself because the learning process helps individuals and groups within that system adapt to changes both within the system and outside. Although these ideas from complexity science are not widely recognized in the field of education, several leading authors (e.g., Caine & Caine, 1997; Fullan, 2005; Hargreaves & Fink, 2006) assert that this focus on learning as systemic adaption is also related to school reform. Reforms based on individual and group learning in schools are often framed as action research, for example, in practitioner research (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2001; Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009) or in professional learning communities (Dufour, Eaker, and Dufour, 2008; Hord, 1997; Hord & Sommers, 2007), but few researchers have noted the connections between action research and these complex adaptive learning principles (e.g., Burns, 2007; Donato, 2003; Pine, 2009). These researchers do not conceive of action research as a methodology but as “an approach to inquiry that supports many methods in the service of sense making through experimental action . . . (combining) inquiry with action as a means of stimulating and supporting change and as a way of assessing the impact of that change” (Burns, 2007, p. 11). Burns (2007) draws the most explicit connection between action research and complexity thinking. He provides examples of action research in a wide range of organizations (including schools), and he focuses on how large systems (macro) can be changed if we support multiple action research initiatives across a network of local (micro) contexts, led by individuals or small groups of practitioners. He claims that action researchers should acknowledge "scaling," or the interdependence of individual, small group, and larger system dynamics, which he calls 1st person, 2nd person, and 3rd person action research. Action research has been represented concretely in a variety of ways (Burns, 2007; Cochran & Lytle, 2001; 2009; and Patterson, 2008). We are using the model suggested by Stringer and colleagues (1996; 2007; 2009), who describe the practitioner inquiry process as a “Look, Think, Act” cycle. This description is straightforward and appropriate both for teachers and for students. Its simplicity, however, is deceptive. The "Look" step or phase could refer to kid-watching (Goodman & Wilde, 1996) or to a complicated data collection and analysis scheme. The "Think" step could refer to a quick reflection or to more extended critique of instructional, theoretical, or political implications. The "Act" cycle might focus on action steps related to academic skills or on social action beyond the classroom. The “Act” cycle often involves framing new questions that lead to further inquiry. Because of this flexibility, we are using "Look, Think, Act" to refer to critical action research cycles in our examples below. We do recognize, however, that critical action research involves multiple, layered, and interdependent “Look, Think, Act” cycles which spiral from one inquiry into the next. The “Act” phase of one inquiry may well overlap with the “Look” phase of a subsequent inquiry. Figure 2 is useful in that it illustrates how these phases are related, but this representation is deceptively simple and does not show the potential complexity involved. Agents within a complex adaptive system (which, in schools might be called a teaching/learning ecology), can use this cycle to make sense of the patterns in the system of which they are a part. Using this process and appropriate tools, these agents can examine what is happening, adjust procedures, actions, and messages based on what they see, and adapt to changes both inside and outside the system. We argue that educators should view campuses and classrooms as complex adaptive systems or ecologies because this conceptual framework acknowledges the self-evident realities within these settings: interdependence of multiple components or agents within the system; the self-organizing emergence of realities that cannot be predicted or controlled; the ongoing search for coherence or meaning; the influence of contextual factors, the influence of feedback loops, and the potential for changing the system through adaptive action. This perspective is powerful because it suggests a whole array of tools to guide our work. School contexts present emergent systems in which the stated goal--the primary directive--is to learn. Applying the claims inherent in the previous discussion, we would assume that in these complex adaptive systems or ecologies we would want to follow simple rules that make learning not only possible but probable, simple rules that would make learning sustainable. As Hargreaves and Fink say, "Sustainability isn't just a metaphor borrowed from environmental science. It's a fundamental principle for enriching and preserving the richness and interconnectedness of all life, and learning lies at the very heart of high-quality life (2006, p. 9). We suggest that the Look, Think, Act cycle (Stringer, 1996; 2007; Stringer, Christensen, & Baldwin, 2009) is a concrete manifestation of this kind of learning, and we recommend these three imperatives as simple rules that will sustain a complex adaptive system. • Look--Gather information related to what is most valued--to the goals or the work of your system. • Think--After identifying relevant assumptions and expectations, analyze/interpret this information to evaluate possible antecedents, cultural and theoretical assumptions, ideologies, influences, consequences and potential actions. • Act--Take action to support or enhance your central values, goals, or expectations. As agents in complex adaptive systems (or teaching/learning ecologies), we should engage in continuous, recursive "Look, Think, Act" cycles to ensure that the system adapts to changes within and changes in the environment but also that these adaptations are coherent with our shared values, beliefs, goals, and expectations. These adaptive actions will enhance the sustainability of our systems. Further, we argue that this particular framework is powerful because it can move action researchers to take a critical stance. From this stance (during the "think" phase), action researchers would be concerned with larger political and cultural systems and with the ideologies that influence patterns in schools, as well as with more instrumental actions and consequences. Those ideological patterns across the system are sometimes hard to resist, and they can shape perceptions and actions in ways that maintain coherence with the larger system (whether or not people are aware of their influence). Social theorists have called this phenomenon "hegemony," or in other contexts "cultural reproduction." Because action researchers interested in sustainability cannot ignore these larger influences, we would recommend that they "look, think, and act," always considering potential ideological influences. For that reason, we use the phrase "critical action research," rather than just "action research" which is sometimes implemented merely with functional or instrumental objectives. This central function of critical action research is to enhance the system's sustainability. The system will shift or self-organize and will sustain over time if these simple rules are integral to the work of the system (and individual components or agents in the system). If agents within this system do not follow these simple rules, they (and/or the system) cannot respond to feedback and will not adapt appropriately. The system will eventually become dysfunctional. Critical action research (the Look, Think, Act cycle) helps us understand and influence the complex ecologies in which we participate so that we can enhance its sustainability. This process is illustrated in Figure ...