This class focuses on understanding the interplay of social, physical, cognitive changes within shifting cultural systems that limit and create affordances for change. In particular, the course involves an exploration of four foundational oppositions: 1) learning and development is highly differentiated by developmental phase vs. all learning and development has underlying regularities; 2) learning is fundamentally cognitive vs. learning is fundamentally social; 3) learning and development are slow and continuous vs. subject to large changes in the face of major transitions/life events; 4) learning and development proceed similarly across contexts vs. learning and development critically involve complex interplay of formal and informal learning. These themes and oppositions are explored through a deep dive on three foundational transitions: early childhood -> middle childhood; middle childhood -> adolescence; adolescence -> young adulthood. Students will also critically examine methods and challenges to such methods to understand contextual effects and longer-term developmental patterns in learning.
Credits: 3.0