This module nurtures your sense of curiosity into an evidence-based understanding of how children around the world grow, develop, and adapt. As part of your learning, you’ll develop skills that go way beyond child development, empowering you to see the world from different perspectives, to scrutinise the claims people make, and to think for yourself. By exploring child development in a cross-cultural context, you’ll be better prepared for a world where we are increasingly likely to exchange ideas and meet people from anywhere across the globe. Above all, this module is a celebration of children’s lives: what children can do, how they think, and the diversity, complexity, and richness of their experiences.
The module has three sections.
The early years
From birth to 5 years old, children undergo remarkable changes in how they behave, think, and learn. You’ll explore the significance of early experiences, how children begin to read other people’s minds and learn language, and the importance of play, imitation, and discovery. You’ll also look at the role that cultural differences and caregivers have in shaping children’s experiences, and how children begin to shape the world around them.
Middle childhood
Between 6 and 12 years of age, children consolidate and expand upon what they have learned in their early years, building on their understanding of the physical world around them, relationships, play, and language. Middle childhood also sees children develop a new repertoire of increasingly sophisticated social, cognitive, and cultural skills. In this section, we explore children’s growing sense of right and wrong and the norms that regulate their moral thinking and behaviour, how their sense of self is tied to the group they belong to, and the roles of intergroup contact, cooperation, and empathy in bringing groups together. We will also look at children’s imagination, creativity, problem-solving, and the role memory plays in children’s daily lives and in telling the story of who they are.
Adolescence
The period between 13 and 18 years brings unique challenges and opportunities. Thriving in this phase of life is not always easy. Adolescents are trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be, as well as balance the demands of fitting in, standing out, and measuring up. Cognitively, socially, and neurologically, adolescence is not a single snapshot in time but a transitional period. It is marked by increased interest in the self, in relationships, and in finding one’s place in society. As adolescents begin to enjoy more adult-like rights and privileges, they face new responsibilities and obligations. This change occurs at a time when they are pivoting away from the family and towards a wider peer group in preparation for becoming independent young adults. Despite these challenges, adolescence can be a period of great personal exploration, innovation, and optimism.
You will learn about the remarkable insights into children’s lives that contemporary research is revealing, the technological advances that allow us to follow their experiences in new detail, and the ways in which children around the world are similar and the ways in which they are different. You’ll be introduced to the people who have changed the way we think about children and childhood; what makes childhood unique for humans compared with other species; the methods researchers use to uncover the secrets of development; and what the current debates are and the big unanswered questions.
This module is relevant for anyone working with infants, children, young people, or those whose vocations influence the lives of children. Educators, parents, policy-makers, clinicians, early years practitioners, or anyone with an interest in how children learn will benefit from gaining an evidence-based understanding of child development. The assessment, through tutor-marked assignments and the end-of-module assessment, requires the application of knowledge to practical issues in the lives of children and young people.
You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They’ll help by:
Online tutorials run throughout the module. While they’re not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate. Where possible, we’ll make recordings available.
Course work includes:
The module uses a blend of printed and online material. You'll have access to a module website, which includes:
You’ll receive the textbook Child development: birth to adolescence, which covers all the main topic areas of the course. A downloadable audiobook version is also available.
You can study this module on its own or use the credits you gain towards an Open University qualification.
E225 is an option module in our:
Child development: birth to adolescence (E225) starts once a year – in October.
This page describes the module that will start in October 2026.
We expect it to start for the last time in October 2032.
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.
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If your income is not more than £25,000 or you receive a qualifying benefit, you might be eligible for help with some of these costs after your module has started.
There may be extra costs on top of the tuition fee, such as set books, a computer and internet access.
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