Pedagogy and Child Development
What the section tests
Pedagogy and Child Development tests how children grow, learn and are assessed, and how a primary teacher should plan and support learning. Expect questions on Piaget, Vygotsky, Kohlberg, learning theories, assessment, inclusive education, RTE 2009 and child-centred practice.
Core concepts
- Piaget: cognitive development proceeds through sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational stages. Primary children typically reason with concrete objects before abstract propositions.
- Vygotsky: learning is social; the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is the gap between what a child can do alone and what the child can do with guidance. Scaffolding is temporary support that is withdrawn as competence grows.
- Kohlberg: moral reasoning moves from preconventional (reward and punishment) to conventional (social approval and rules) to postconventional (universal principles).
- Constructivism: learners build understanding from prior knowledge and active experience.
- Assessment: formative assessment guides teaching; summative assessment judges learning at the end of a unit.
- RTE 2009: free and compulsory elementary education for children aged 6–14, with no detention or expulsion at the elementary stage and a ban on screening procedures.
Worked example
A child cannot complete a puzzle alone but succeeds when the teacher asks guiding questions and then removes the hints. Which concept explains this?
Reasoning: the child’s independent performance and assisted performance differ, which is the ZPD. The teacher’s questions are scaffolding: support calibrated to the child’s current level and gradually removed so the child takes over the task.
Traps that cost marks
- Assigning abstract formal-operational tasks to preoperational children.
- Confusing Piaget’s individual stages with Vygotsky’s social learning.
- Calling all tests “formative”; formative assessment is ongoing and used to adjust teaching.
- Misstating RTE age limits or its no-detention provision.