As a foundational course, it will introduce the important principles, perspectives, historical trajectories of child development, contemporary debates, research and issues related to the development of children with a focus on the birth to eight years age group. Situating child development as an interplay of biological and socio-cultural processes and childhood as a social construction, the course will emphasise upon the role of context and diverse experiences in determining the course of children’s development in different domains and stages of their life. 

The course will provide critical perspectives on the domains of development, their interlinkages and implication for educational and caring experiences of children in the early years. Students will be oriented to different methods of child study while engaging with the domains of development. 

The second part of the course (4 credits) will be offered in semester 2 and will build on the learnings of part one of the course. It will mainly be centred around perspectives and theoretical frameworks that help understand children’s thinking and learning in the early years. Cognition, concept development, moral development, language acquisition and development will form the major topics for discussion. These would be transacted through the introduction of theories, debates and research that have informed our understanding over the years. Age-specific characteristics and milestones as well as importance of the individual differences would be focused upon. 

Some contemporary perspectives that emphasise the socio-cultural nature of cognitive development would also be discussed. A unit on neurodiversity and the different types of disabilities associated with the cognitive and language domains of development would be included. 

The course will end with a consolidation of the topics covered in the two-part course, emphasising the interdependence of the different domains of development and the implications for educational and care practices in early years settings.