Dimensions of Child Development

About this chapter

Dimensions of Child Development maps the five interlinked domains through which a child grows from infancy to late adolescence — physical, emotional, cognitive, moral and psychosocial. The chapter details bodily and pubertal changes in childhood (3-12 years) and adolescence (13-18 years); the emotional shifts from autonomy and shame in childhood to identity struggle, moodiness and crushes in adolescence; Piaget's four cognitive stages with schema, assimilation, accommodation and equilibration; Piaget's heteronomous and autonomous morality with the Rajat-Shivani kachori dilemma; Kohlberg's six stages across pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional levels illustrated through the Heinz dilemma; Gilligan's three-stage ethics of care critique; and Erikson's eight psychosocial stages with the industry-versus-inferiority crisis of the elementary-school child (6-12 years). It closes with the holistic view of development and the teacher's role as facilitator across all dimensions. CTET Paper 1 draws heavily from this material — Piaget stages, Kohlberg levels, Erikson stages and teacher-as-facilitator items recur every cycle. The four tests — Practice 15, Quiz 15, Hard 15, Mastery 30 — cover all six topics at CTET depth.