Continuous learning about continuous learning: clarifying and expanding a multi-level, living system's analysis

In this response to Day and Tate (this volume) and Markham, Groesbeck, and Swan (this volume), we clarify the concept of continuous learning from a living system's perspective and address the evolution of adaptive, generative, and transformative learning. Further, we assert that a system's drive for homeostasis is actually a fluid, continuous learning process that may vary in the rate and direction of change. Environmental triggers, readiness for learning, and feedback provide leverage points for change and learning within and across individual, group, and organizational systems. Future research is needed to identify and study the effects of these leverage points on systems’ adaptive, generative, and transformative learning.