Stewart, Mary AmandaPatterson, LeslieBaldwin, SheilaAraujo, JuanShearer, Ragina2014-10-312014-10-312010This is the published version of an article that is available at https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/jiae/vol3/iss3/4. Recommended citation: Patterson, L., Baldwin, S., Araujo, J., Shearer, R., & Stewart, M. A. (2010) Look, think, act: Using critical action research to sustain reform in complex teaching/learning ecologies. Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education. 3(3),139-157. This item has been deposited in accordance with publisher copyright and licensing terms and with the author’s permission.http://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/jiae/vol3/iss3/4http://hdl.handle.net/11274/3533This paper argues that educators interested in sustainability should look to complexity science for guiding principles. When we view our classrooms and campuses as living, dynamic ecologies, we can, as insiders, make sense of what might otherwise seem chaotic or meaningless. This perspective enables us not only to describe and explain what is happening around us, but also to use our findings to influence emerging patterns across our classrooms, campuses, or our larger communities. We suggest that educators use a Look, Think, Act cycle recommended by Ernie Stringer to encourage and support sustainable school reform.en-USEducationSustainable school reformComplexity scienceArticleCC BY-NC-ND 4.0