Paedology (also spelled pedology or paidology) is the study of children's behavior and development. It may be considered distinct from ''

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

'', the art or science of teaching, and ''

pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

'', the field of medicine relating to children. However, pedology is not commonly recognized as a distinct field of study; therefore, many people who would be described as pedologists are instead described as

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

pediatrician Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

s, etc. Another factor that contributes to paedology's lack of recognition as a distinct field of study is because one could make contributions to the field of pedology while also making contributions to other fields. For example,

Jean Piaget Jean William Fritz Piaget (, ; ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called genetic epistemology. ...

made contributions to the study of pedology in his theories of the cognitive development of children; however, Piaget has more commonly been recognized as a

developmental psychologist Developmental psychology is the science, scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult deve ...

Origins of paedology

The origins of this trend in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and pedagogy go back to the end of the 18th century with the separation of a branch of psychology that would form the basis of pedagogy, a pedagogic psychology or "experimental pedagogic psychology", "

experimental pedagogy A teaching method is a set of principles and methods used by teachers to enable student learning. These strategies are determined partly by the subject matter to be taught, partly by the relative expertise of the learners, and partly by constrai ...

", "experimental education".

G. Stanley Hall Granville Stanley Hall (February 1, 1844 – April 24, 1924) was an American psychologist and educator who earned the first doctorate in psychology awarded in the United States of America at Harvard University in the nineteenth century. His ...

(1844–1924) fostered pedology as a separate study, and also became instrumental in the development of modern

educational psychology Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of human learning. The study of learning processes, from both cognitive psychology, cognitive and behavioral psychology, behavioral perspectives, allows researc ...

. An American researcher, Oscar Chrisman, proposed the term "pedology" in 1893. At the end of the 19th century, pedology as a comprehensive study of the child came to prominence in Europe as an attempt to create a study of children in the manner of

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

. In 1909 Professor

Kazimierz Twardowski Kazimierz Jerzy Skrzypna-Twardowski (; 20 October 1866 – 11 February 1938) was a Polish philosopher, psychologist, logician, and rector of the Lwów University. He was initially affiliated with Alexius Meinong's Graz School of object theory. ...

organized a Pedological Society in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(now Ukraine). In 1910 a similar society was organized in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. In 1911 the first World Congress in Pedology took place in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, with attendants from 22 countries.

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914–1918) effectively put an end to the development of this study in Western Europe. Since pedology as a branch of science never reached its maturity, there is no common established understanding as to the scope or instruments of pedology.

Bowie State University Bowie State University (Bowie State or BSU) is a public historically black university in Prince George's County, Maryland, north of Bowie. It is part of the University System of Maryland. Founded in 1865, Bowie State is Maryland's oldest his ...

in Bowie, Maryland became the first university in the United States to offer a bachelor's degree in pedology. A 2014 document from the university refers to "the pedology major (now known as child and adolescent studies)". At many universities in the United States, pedological study is generally classified under the major "child development."

Pedology in the Soviet Union

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

a prominent developer of the field was in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, who in 1901 created the laboratory of experimental pedagogical psychology. Soviet pedology is traditionally thought to be founded by the efforts of

Vladimir Bekhterev Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev ( rus, Влади́мир Миха́йлович Бе́хтерев, p=ˈbʲextʲɪrʲɪf; 20 January 1857 – 24 December 1927) was a Russian neurologist and the father of objective psychology. He is best known fo ...

; in particular, in 1918 he founded the Institute of Pedology as part of psychological institutions united into the Institute for Study of Brain and Psychical Activity. This science was intensively pursued in 1920s–1930s in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. A journal ''Pedologiya'' ("Педология") was issued.

Lev Vygotsky Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (, ; ; – June 11, 1934) was a Russian and Soviet psychologist, best known for his work on psychological development in children and creating the framework known as cultural-historical activity theory. After his ear ...

and

Pavel Blonsky Pavel Petrovich Blonsky (Russian: Павел Петрович Блонский; May 26 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. May 14/abbr>, 1884 – February 15, 1941) was a Russian Soviet Union">S ...

were among its prominent supporters. While many works of pedologists were of considerable value, the approach was severely criticized for over-enthusiastic but poorly grounded approach of testing for predicting a child's mental development, in addition to estimating its status. It was officially condemned in 1936 after a special decree of

VKP(b) The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

Central Committee "On Pedological Perversions in the System of

Narkompros The People's Commissariat for Education (or Narkompros; , directly translated as the "People's Commissariat for Enlightenment") was the Soviet agency charged with the administration of public education and most other issues related to culture. In 1 ...

es" on July 4, 1936.

References

*Depaepe, M. (1985). "Science, technology, and paedology: The concept of science at the Faculte Internationale de Pedologie in Brussels (1912–1914)." ''Scientia Paedogica Experimentalis'', 1, 14–28. *Depaepe, M. (1992). "Experimental Research in Education 1890–1940: historical processes behind the development of a discipline in western Europe and the United States." ''

Aspects of Education Aspect or Aspects may refer to: Companies * Aspect Capital, a London-based investment manager * Aspect Co., a Japanese video game company * Aspect Software, an American call center technology and customer experience company Literature * ''Aspec ...

'', ''Journal of the Institute of Education'',

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

, 42, pp. 67–93. *Depaepe, M. (1993). "Zum Wohl des Kindes? Pädologie, pädagogische Psychologie und experimentelle Pädagogik in Europa und den USA, 1890–1940." Leuven: Universitaire Pers/Weinheim: Deutscher Studienverlag.

External links

{{wikisource2, ru:Постановление ЦК ВКП(б) от 4.07.1936 о педологических извращениях в системе Наркомпросов
P.Ya.Shvartsman, I.V.Kuznetsova, ''Pedology: A Repressed Science''
Social sciences Child development Pedagogical movements and theories