Summarized highlights from Action Inquiry: A learning approach for systems change | Anna Birney, Rachel Phillips, Rachel Maria Taylor | April 2025
Understanding Action Inquiry as Learning for Systems Change
“In essence, action inquiry is learning as a systemic practice, a process through which we continually act, reflect, iterate and learn as a way of engaging with complex issues.”
“With action inquiry, we may understand our learning as alive, relational (interrelated), reflexive, practical, developmental, emergent and happening at multiple levels (the self, the collective and the wider context).”
“Learning is the process of change. Learning is change.”
Key Framings of Action Inquiry
1. Working at and holding multiple levels
Action inquiry operates across self, collective, and wider contextual levels
2. Loops of inquiry and learning
Learning happens through iterative cycles of action and reflection
3. Action inquiry as an ongoing cycle of learning
The process is continuous rather than linear or finite
Power Dynamics in Systems Change
“Power is neither good nor bad. As energy, it flows to shape the world, influence others and make an impact, moving relationally between people and in social systems, creating patterns that influence how we connect, learn, organise and work.”
“If we define ‘systems change’ as the emergence of a new pattern of organising, and ‘power’ as a relational dynamic not a given state, then changing systems is all about shifting power dynamics.”
“This suggests systems change work is about changing our ways of relating: to ourselves, one another and the world.”
Pedagogical Approach
“At the School, we root ourselves in this orientation to learning. We don’t teach people how to use tools and frameworks for systems change practice; we model learning as systemic practice and create the conditions for learning through action inquiry, supported by tools and frameworks where relevant.”
The goal is “enabling people to be systemic and embrace and navigate complexity” rather than simply teaching tools and frameworks.
