Our role as educators is to be intentional and reflective, to know not only how to support learning but also why we do what we do. Knowing the educational theories that underpin pedagogical approaches helps us understand the learning processes of young children. These theories provide insight into the nature of learning and development, enabling educators to select strategies that align with children's needs and contexts.

It is essential to recognise that no single theory can comprehensively address all aspects of child development. Educators should adopt a ‘mixed methods’ approach, drawing from multiple theories to tailor educational practices to the diverse needs of children. This flexibility allows for more personalised and effective learning experiences, ensuring that all children have the opportunity to thrive in their early years (Saracho, 2023).

The following are some key theories in early years education; however, many others may also be considered.

Constructivism – Jean Piaget

Piaget believed that children are not passive learners who absorb facts. Instead, he saw them as active participants in their learning. According to Piaget, children construct knowledge through hands-on experiences, such as play, exploration, and problem-solving. They learn best when they can interact with their environment and make sense of things for themselves (Piaget, 1960).

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development outlines how children's thinking changes over time. He described a series of developmental stages, from simple sensorimotor understanding in infancy to more complex abstract reasoning in later childhood. Each stage represents a new way of thinking about the world.

A key idea in Piaget’s theory is disequilibrium—the mental discomfort children feel when something doesn’t match what they already know. This prompts them to rethink, question, and reorganise their ideas. Educators can support this by gently challenging children’s thinking and encouraging them to explore new perspectives.

Although Piaget didn’t write a specific guide for teachers, his ideas suggest a child-centred pedagogy—one that values curiosity, hands-on learning, and allowing children time and space to figure things out for themselves. In practice, this might involve setting up open-ended activities, encouraging independent thinking, and allowing children to learn through trial and error.

Ultimately, Piaget’s work reminds us that learning isn’t something we do to children. It’s something children do for themselves, with the right environment and support. Piaget sees the child as a "little scientist" who learns independently through interaction with the physical world (Richmond, 2013).

Social Constructivism – Lev Vygotsky and Barbara Rogoff

Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist and educator, expanded upon Piaget’s theories by placing greater emphasis on the social and cultural dimensions of learning. While Piaget highlighted individual cognitive development, Vygotsky argued that learning is fundamentally shaped through social interaction with more knowledgeable others. These interactions not only influence what children learn but also how they think, reason, and perceive the world (Kozulin, 2004).

Peer to peer learning - children sharing their ability to form letters

Vygotsky famously argued that directly teaching concepts is both ineffective and unproductive. Instead, he advocated for authentic learning experiences that are meaningful and relevant within the child’s own cultural and community context (Daniels, 2002). According to Vygotsky, learning is most effective when it emerges from participation in real-world activities alongside more competent individuals.

A central concept in Vygotsky’s theory is the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)—the gap between what a child can achieve independently and what they can accomplish with the help of guidance or collaboration. Effective pedagogy operates within this zone, providing support that enables children to progress beyond their current level of competence. As children develop mastery, this support is gradually withdrawn.

Vygotsky viewed the child as an apprentice, learning actively through culturally embedded interactions with adults and peers. The role of the educator, therefore, is to create opportunities for shared problem-solving and to facilitate participation in meaningful tasks (Gredler, 2012).

Pedagogical Illustration: Small Group Problem-Solving with Adult Support

Consider a group of four-year-olds building a bridge with wooden blocks. One end of the bridge repeatedly collapses. The educator observes that the failure is due to a smaller base block being used. Rather than intervening with a solution, the educator poses a series of scaffolded questions:

“Why do you think this part keeps falling down?”
“Can you compare this side of the bridge with the side that’s standing?”
“Do you notice anything different about the bottom blocks?”

If the children are still unable to identify the problem, the educator might gently prompt further:
“I wonder if the first block might be too small—what do you think?”

This interaction exemplifies the ZPD in practice: the educator provides just enough cognitive support to help the children reflect, hypothesize, and revise their construction. Once the bridge is successfully built, the educator can revisit the experience with the children to consolidate their learning.

Extending Vygotsky: Rogoff’s Concept of Guided Participation

Building on Vygotsky’s socio-cultural framework, Barbara Rogoff (1990) introduced the concept of guided participation. This approach provides a broader perspective on how young children acquire skills and knowledge through active participation in everyday social activities, guided by adults or more experienced peers. Rogoff highlighted that children acquire knowledge not simply by absorbing information, but by engaging actively in cultural activities. Guided participation refers to a collaborative process in which the learner is involved while receiving support from someone more experienced (Rogoff, 2006).

In contrast to traditional instructional models, Rogoff shifted the focus from the transmission of information to collaborative engagement. Learning occurs as children take part in authentic, shared tasks within their cultural communities, gradually assuming more responsibility.

Both Vygotsky’s ZPD and Rogoff’s guided participation underscore the importance of intentional, responsive interaction in early learning. They advocate for pedagogical approaches that recognise children as active participants in their development, supported by social and cultural relationships that shape how and what they learn.

Social Learning Theory – Albert Bandura

Bandura’s Social Learning Theory emphasises the role of observation, imitation, and modelling in learning. Children learn not only from direct experiences but also by watching others—peers, adults, and even media figures.

Bandura showed that children internalise behaviours and attitudes they observe in others. In early years settings, this has significant implications: educators are role models, and their language, actions, and emotional responses shape children’s development in powerful ways. Modelling respectful relationships, problem-solving, and emotional regulation is as pedagogically important as planning learning activities (Mooney, 2013).

Behaviourism – Watson, Skinner and Pavlov

Behaviourist theories focus on observable behaviours and the ways they can be shaped through reinforcement. Pavlov demonstrated how behaviour could be conditioned through association, while Skinner emphasised the role of rewards and consequences in strengthening or weakening behaviour (Mooney, 2013)..

While modern pedagogy has moved beyond strict behaviourism, its principles still influence practice—for example, in the use of positive reinforcement to encourage pro-social behaviour, or in the design of routines and expectations that help children feel secure and supported. Behaviourist strategies can be helpful tools within a broader pedagogical approach that also values relationships, meaning-making, and autonomy.

Scaffolding and Cognitive Development – Jerome Bruner

Bruner developed Vygotsky’s early work on the ZPD and introduced the concept of ‘scaffolding’ (Bruner, 2021), based on the belief that for effective learning to take place, the adult must provide a framework that matches the learner’s current level of understanding, but always one step ahead (Stapleton and Stefaniak, 2019).

Bruner also believed that any subject could be taught to any child, at any age, in an appropriate form. This underpins the idea that pedagogy should be flexible and adaptive, revisiting key concepts in increasingly complex ways as children's thinking matures. His work reminds us that how we present information and structure experiences significantly affects how children learn. This approach is key when considering project-based learning, as it challenges children’s deeper level of understanding in an iterative manner (See website for example of this from practice).

A four-year-old’s understanding of photosynthesis and the relationship of fungi with the roots of trees

Bruner’s Three Modes of Learning :

Enactive Mode (Learning by Doing)
The child learns through physical actions.
👉 Example: A toddler learns how to stack blocks by actually handling and moving them.

Iconic Mode (Learning through Pictures or Images in the Mind)
The child forms mental pictures of objects or actions.
👉 Example: A child remembers what a block tower looks like and can imagine building it without touching it.

Symbolic Mode (Learning through Words, Numbers, and Abstract Thinking)
The child uses language, symbols, or ideas to understand.
👉 Example: A child can describe how to build a tower without needing objects.
✨ This is flexible, abstract thinking—no need for visuals or touch anymore.

Multiple Intelligences – Howard Gardner

Gardner’s (1993) theory of multiple intelligences marked a significant shift away from the traditional notion of intelligence as a singular, measurable entity, typically assessed through standardised testing. Instead, it introduced a broader, more nuanced understanding of intelligence as multifaceted. Gardner originally identified eight distinct types of intelligence, later expanding the list to nine (Gardner, 1987), with the inclusion of ‘Existential Intelligence’.

He emphasises that these intelligences rarely function in isolation; instead, they interact and support one another in complex ways. As educators, we often recognise this interplay in children, for example, the child with a natural musical talent who easily memorises song lyrics and displays strong rhythm and timing; the child with keen spatial awareness who excels at building or solving puzzles; or the socially intuitive child who navigates group settings with ease.

Bioecological Systems Theory – Urie Bronfenbrenner

Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory describes how human development is shaped by various layers of environmental influence, ranging from immediate settings to broader cultural contexts (Bronfenbrenner, 2000). At the core is the microsystem, which includes the child's direct interactions with family, school, and peers. These connections are further influenced by the mesosystem, which represents the relationships between immediate settings, such as how a child's home life affects their school experience. The exosystem encompasses external environments that indirectly impact the child, like a parent’s workplace. Beyond that lies the macrosystem, which includes societal values, customs, and laws. Finally, the chronosystem accounts for the dimension of time, capturing life transitions and historical shifts that influence development. Educators play an essential role within this framework, as their interactions with children can significantly shape daily experiences, learning opportunities, and long-term outcomes.

This means that a child's growth is not shaped in isolation but is continuously influenced by a complex web of relationships and environments that evolve over time (Bronfenbrenner, 2000).

A child's growth is not shaped in isolation but is continuously influenced by a complex web of relationships and environments that evolve over time (Bronfenbrenner, 2000).

References

Bronfenbrenner, U., 2000. Ecological systems theory. American Psychological Association.

Bruner, J., 2021. Jerome Bruner and constructivism. Learning theories for early years practice, p.87.

Daniels, H., 2002. Vygotsky and pedagogy. Routledge.

Gardner, H., 1987. The theory of multiple intelligences. Annals of dyslexia, pp.19-35.

Gredler, M.E., 2012. Understanding Vygotsky for the classroom: Is it too late?. Educational Psychology Review, 24, pp.113-131.

Kozulin, A., 2004. Vygotsky's theory in the classroom: Introduction. European Journal of Psychology of Education, pp.3-7.

Mooney, C.G., 2013. Theories of Childhood: An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget & Vygotsky. Redleaf Press.

Piaget, J., 1960. The child conception of the world. Littlefield, Adams [and] Company.

Pritchard, A., 2017. Ways of learning: Learning theories for the classroom. Routledge.

Richmond, R.G., 2013. Introduction to Piaget. Routledge.

Rogoff, B., 1990. Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. Oxford University Press.

Rogoff, B., 2006. Conceiving the relationship of the social world and the individual. Science education: Major themes in education, pp.38-60.

Saracho, O.N., 2023. Theories of child development and their impact on early childhood education and care. Early Childhood Education Journal, 51(1), pp.15-30.

Stapleton, L. and Stefaniak, J., 2019. Cognitive constructivism: Revisiting Jerome Bruner’s influence on instructional design practices. TechTrends, 63, pp.4-5.

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