Mind maps were a big hit right across the UK education system, and no doubt beyond. They borrow heavily from the spider web metaphor, and in particular the type of spider web that has a centre.
For me, they come packaged with an ideology of egalitarianism and free-thinking. There's an association with creativity, colour, imagery, large paper let loose from the confines of an exercise book. But do they really lead to creativity? What is your experience, whether as a teacher or a student?
A critical perspective on mind maps is presented here by teacher-blogger Nick Rose:
https://evidenceintopractice.wordpress.com/2014/08/25/does-visual-mapping-help-revision/