 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|||
 |
|
||||
 |
|
||||
 |
|
||||
GLOSSARY INQUIRY: ENVIRONMENTAL
The web of physical and/or cultural relations in which a learner/complex system, such as an organism or social collective, is embedded, or nested.
In complexity, the term environment is always defined in relation to actual systems. It is both those aspects of the world with which a system interacts and the background from which that learner/system can be distinguished as a coherent, or autonomous, unity. The distinction or boundary between a unity and its environment, however, is always an artificial and functional one: it depends on the purposes of the observer. For instance, one might consider an individual tree, or study the forest as a whole.
Students, teachers and social groups are examples of learners/systems that are distinguishable from—but still nested within—larger school, community, cultural and biological environments.
See related terms: Nestedness, Learner, Autonomy, Observer, Classroom.
