In many ways, the three representations provide a way to access higher order of thinking and planning. It is with these three representations in mind that we are encouraged to think about our thinking and envision our envisioning regarding specific aspects of the world in which we operate as teachers, planners and problem-solvers. I propose that this third perspective on reality also operates in our construction of the world (and recognize that there are many other frameworks). This third perspective concerns the images that we engage when describing reality and when anticipating or planning for movement in this reality. This framework of images also relates to the forementioned three tiers of thinking David and I taught: paradigms, models and practices.
My recognition of this framework came from the review of my own consulting and teaching over the past sixty years, as well as my forementioned work with David Halliburton. I am inclined when working with other people to make extensive use of blackboards (in the old days), whiteboards (more recently), flipcharts and power points. Using these devices, I am predisposed to draw figures, often circles, squares, and arrows.
Many of these images involved three circles or squares, or a set of two circles or squares. Other images are created consisting of a single circle, a set of radiating circles, or interlocking circles. I even point to a blank board or flipchart and speak of the absence of some specific entity. Finally, I am known for drawing some image on the backside of a flipchart page or on the backside of a blackboard (if this is a portable blackboard with two erasable sides).
Given this preliminary background behind the framework of images created by David Halliburton and myself, I want to explore each framework in greater depth: three-fold images (triad), two-fold images (dyads) and unitary images (monads). In keeping with the focus of this essay (and others in this series) I will also explore images of nothing, and even images of negativity.
And Then There Were Three: Triadic Images
In the world of Triads, everything begins with some fundamental tension [Thesis/Antithesis] but comes to resolution [Synthesis] only to create yet another tension. We go from nothing to Three by identifying this fundamental tension and the nature of its resolution. The Triad is all about progress. We push and pull—and then progress.
Stages of Maturation
Our stages of maturation are always filled with fundamental tensions between the individual and collective, the things we desire and the things we need, and what we fear and what we love. And then progress toward an enlightened citizenship, a responsible adulthood, and a life filled with courage and compassion.
According to Erik Erikson (1963), the Stages of Life consist of tensions between two psychological conditions (such as trust and mistrust) which eventually resolve, allowing for entrance into a more mature stage where developmental tensions are reset. As one of Erik Erikson’s mentors, Henry Murray (1938/2007) framed the dynamics of human personality as the pull between human needs and the push of environment presses, creating a disequilibrium. As a psychological humanist, Murray believed that the resolution of this pull and press can lead to a life of psychogenetic growth and societally beneficial accomplishments.
