System theory defines the life course ("Lebenslauf") as the medium of education. It is a medium, because the educator sees it as a potential for intervention, impressing pedagogically acceptable forms onto it. Yet the single individuals who are educated are autonomous observers who are exposed to an immense quantity of possible…

In this article, we introduce a systemic framework for the development of learning potential to professional excellence inspired by the Actiotope model of giftedness. First, we critically reflect on three theoretical approaches representing different psychological constructions of learning potential. We label these approaches theories of…

Reinventing education is the ultimate aim of this contribution. The approach taken is a radical new complexity-inspired bottom-up approach which shows complexity as the fount of creativity and innovation. Organizing complexity accordingly may be the foundation for a new complexified vision of education. It all starts with new thinking in…

We present a theoretical review of notions of autonomy to show how they organize discourses within social sciences around the biological reality of ideal self-regulating individuals. First, we reconstruct key meanings of autonomy in biological theory, focusing on theories of autopoietic systems and their connections to constructivist…

In this article, Peter Molenaar responds to three commentaries (this issue) on his article, "An Interpretation of Part of Gilbert Gottlieb's Legacy: Developmental Systems Theory Contra Developmental Behavior Genetics." He addresses aspects of relational developmental systems (RDS) mentioned and questions raised in each of the…

The concepts and paradigms "development", "evolution", and "developmental behavior genetics" target, in their statements, populations. The laws of genetics and evolution are supposed to apply to every single case in a population. It can be counted among the major contributions of Gottlieb (1992, 1995) to have pointed…

When truly spectacular events occur in the performing arts or in team sports, when the sets of artists or athletes respectively creating these events are discussed, a common phrase used in America to explain the "good fortune" that was involved in such unique occurrences is that "the stars aligned." In this commentary on:…

Molenaar's (2015) article concerns Developmental Systems Theory (DST) in relation to behavior genetics and he presents implications of DST for empirical research, especially the need for subject-specific studies. In this commentary, the article is discussed from a broader developmental science perspective, particularly regarded through the lens of…

The main theme of this paper concerns the persistent critique of Gilbert Gottlieb on developmental behavior genetics and my reactions to this critique, the latter changing from rejection to complete acceptation. Concise characterizations of developmental behavior genetics, developmental systems theory (to which Gottlieb made essential…

This report presents the latest analysis of the Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs and policies that affect young children in the People's Republic of China and poses overall recommendations to move forward. Shanghai, being a model for several developmental issues in China, is used as an example to help elucidate viewpoints whenever…

Although the value of school-community partnerships is unquestioned, the reasons for success and failure are not sufficiently understood. This mixed-methods case study examines 60 years of partnering at one urban high school, using Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory to better understand the effect on student development as measured by…

The dynamic systems perspective has been touted as an integrative metatheoretical framework for the study of stability and change in development. However, two dynamic systems camps exist with respect to the role higher-order form, once emergent, plays in the process of development. This paper evaluates these two camps in terms of the overarching…

In this contribution it is shown that Gilbert Gottlieb's theoretical contributions to developmental science, in particular his focus on individual development and his discussion of the limitations of developmental behavior genetics in this respect, are vindicated by recent theoretical developments in mathematical biology and psychometrics.

The purpose of this article is to advance understanding of the individual and family from a systems perspective and to facilitate interdisciplinary communication between individual and family theorists. This article outlines the systems concepts in human development and family theories to show that the groundwork for unification is already…

Continual additions of discrete educational programs are ineffective and deleterious to the educational system. The New American Schools Development Corporation and Goals 2000 are examples of systemic school-improvement initiatives. A new paradigm based on lifelong learning and individual and team growth is essential. A learning organization must…