Creative‐Becoming Holism: Reflections on and Development of Creative Holism in the Case of Science Education

Chenjia Xu and Dongping Fan

Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 2025, vol. 42, issue 1, 98-110

Abstract: Creative holism has garnered significant scholarly interest in China since its introduction into Chinese academia in the mid‐2000s. Building on and contributing to the ongoing dialogue between ‘East and West’ systems thinking, in this article, we propose ‘Creative‐Becoming Holism’ as an attempt to advance creative holism. Our theoretical construal emphasises the dynamic process of generation and evolution as central to holism, which we consider to be the foundation of systems thinking. We justify this theoretical stance by drawing from the research on the mechanism of emergence in complexity sciences, the preoccupation with creative evolution and processual generation in traditional Chinese thought, and the reflections on the intellectual trajectory of applied systems thinking. We believe the notion of ‘becoming’ offers a fresh perspective on the nature of holism, under which creativity can be seen as a local rule of interactions within the system as a processual, dynamic whole. Moreover, ‘becoming’ also prompts us to move towards a generative view of holism where the whole is granted with ontological and epistemological primacy instead of being construed as a mere collection of system elements. Creative‐Becoming Holism provides a methodological framework for dealing with complex social systems. To highlight its application prowess, we then explore how Creative‐Becoming Holism can address critical challenges in science education, including cultivating Ideas of Big Science Education (STESE), fostering Engineering Habits of Mind and understanding Nature of Science (NOS).

Date: 2025
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