- Facilitating complex thinking
the maps was drawn by a classroom teacher and the other by a university professor of psychology (Seifert, 1991).
They suggest possible differences in how the two individuals think about children and their development. Not
surprisingly, the teacher gave more prominence to practical concerns (for example, classroom learning and child
abuse), and the professor gave more prominence to theoretical ones (for example, Erik Erikson and Piaget). The
differences suggest that these two people may have something different in mind when they use the same term, child
development. The differences have the potential to create misunderstandings between them (Seifert, 1999; Super &
Harkness, 2003). By the same token, the two maps also suggest what each person might need to learn in order to
achieve better understanding of the other person’s thinking and ideas.
Exhibit 14: Maps of personal definitions of “child development”