ABSTRACT
Spatial assumptions underpin a panorama of life systems, including intrapsychic, interpersonal, social, macrosystemic, linguistic and educational systems. This book outlines some initial applications of the interplay between concentric and diametric spatial systems in developmental and educational psychology. Inscribing the centrality of space is not to pit space against time; it examines how foundational concepts of developmental and educational psychology are thoroughly imbued with spatial assumptions. A different spatial systemic conception of development, not reliant on organismic assumptions of growth, is possible. Diametric space as a theory-laden feature of psychological phenomena is not simply mere error or a random feature, but is instead an organising structure as the gateway to a more fundamental questioning in psychology. De Beauvoir and Said’s critiques of ‘othering’ invite challenge to this diametric oppositional space of exclusion as a framing condition for ‘the other’; a different concentric space is needed. It is evident that concentric space is a deep and ancient structure in human experience across diverse cultures. Early Bronfenbrenner relies on a concentric spatial systemic model requiring amplification for understanding inclusive systems. Diametric spatial opposition presupposes division and separation between the individual and environment or system; ecological systems approaches challenge diametric space.
