What distinguishes TCS parenting and education from other such philosophies is that in TCS families, instead of the parents imposing their will on their children, or self-sacrificing for their children, parents and children work together to find real solutions to any problems or disagreements they have. A real solution, says Lawrence, is a common preference, a solution all parties genuinely prefer to all other candidate solutions they can think of.
Lawrence says that her philosophy is inspired by the epistemology of Karl Popper. According to TCS, Popper's epistemology is a universal theory of how knowledge grows and it has profound implications for educational theory. Lawrence says that Popper himself never made this connection.