A developmental theory of instruction: Bridging educational priorities with developmental priorities

Abstract

This paper summarizes a theory of cognitive development and discusses its educational implications. The paper first outlines a set of principles that might allow tuning developmental priorities with educational priorities. It postulates, in contrast to several classic developmental theories, that developmental priorities change with development. It outlines the cognitive profile of four successive developmental cycles and presents evidence showing that developmental priorities change from interaction control in infancy to representational control in preschool to inferential control in primary school to logical truth control in adolescence. Studies are then summarized showing that the cognitive priorities of each cycle are the best predictors of school achievement in this or later cycles. Finally, we show that learning in different domains, such as language and mathematics, depends on an interaction between the general cognitive processes dominating in each cycle and the state of the symbol systems associated with this domain. If command of any of these systems is deficient, specific learning deficiencies may emerge, as in dyslexia and dyscalculia. Principles for learning to learn in general and for ameliorating these conditions are outlined.