"McFarland was already a large figure in child psychology before ever meeting Fred Rogers. After receiving her doctorate from Columbia and teaching in Melbourne, Australia, McFarland returned to Pittsburgh in 1953 and co-founded the Arsenal Family and Children's Center with Dr. Benjamin Spock, famous for his studies on child development, and renowned psychologist Erik Erikson, known for coining the eight stages of development and the term "identity crisis.""
"Unlike Spock and Erikson, McFarland kept a very low profile throughout her career and wrote very little about her teaching philosophies outside of her dissertation and a single journal article on "development of motherliness." But her legacy has lived on through her students, Rogers chief among them, and the core tenet of what she taught should sound familiar, even if their origin is not."
Margaret McFarland trained Fred Rogers in child development during his theology studies at the University of Pittsburgh and shaped the show's approach to children. McFarland co-founded the Arsenal Family and Children's Center with Benjamin Spock and Erik Erikson after earning her doctorate and teaching abroad. McFarland maintained a low public profile and published little, yet her teaching influenced generations of students and practitioners. A core principle she taught was that acknowledging difficult feelings makes them more manageable. Rogers met with McFarland frequently to shape scripts, songs, and portrayals of children, embedding her psychology throughout the program.
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