Short course
The Developing Mind: Infancy to Adulthood
Course status:
Applications being accepted
Location:
Online
Dates:
15/04/2027 - 24/06/2027
Study format:
Online - live
Fees:
£430.00
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How do our early experiences shape the way we think, feel, and understand the world? This course explores how minds form, from infancy through emerging adulthood. Each week examines a key developmental phase – prenatal attunement, intersubjectivity, language, theory of mind, moral reasoning, puberty, adolescent identity, emerging adulthood — and the bigger questions these phases illuminate. Throughout, developmental science is put in dialogue with philosophical enquiry. Students will encounter psychologists such as Spelke, Carey, Vygotsky, Trevarthen, Schore, and Sapolsky, alongside philosophers like Hume, Kant, Whitehead, Wittgenstein, Nietzsche, Merleau-Ponty, Dewey, and Buddhist approaches. A central theme running through the course is the relationship between two different ways we can “know” – conceptually, and experientially. Developmental science shows these two distinct modes as emerging in a specific sequence within the growing human, from embodied infant perception to adult abstract reasoning. Every session incorporates three strands: developmental psychology evidence, theoretical context, and practical application. Students will gain a richer understanding of psychology — including through a philosophical lens — and of their own developmental history. These insights have direct application for parents navigating the turmoil of their adolescents, educators shaping early learning, and therapists working with developmental histories.
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Book this course
Book your place online using the button below.
Programme details
This course begins on the 15 Apr 2027, which is when course materials are made available to students. Students should study these materials in advance of the first live meeting, which will be held on 22 Apr 2027, 19:00-20:00 (UK time).
Week 1: Neither Nature nor Nurture: Framing the Course
Week 2: Before the World: Prenatal and Neonatal Life
Week 3: The First Relationship: Intersubjectivity and the Dyadic System
Week 4: Building a World: Causation and Core Knowledge
Week 5: The Conceptual Turn: Language, Symbols and Abstract Thought
Week 6: Other Minds: Theory of Mind and the Social World
Week 7: The Moral Order: Middle Childhood
Week 8: The Body Reclaimed: Puberty as Phase Transition
Week 9: Identity in Oscillation: Adolescence
Week 10: The Enacted Self: Emerging Adulthood and What Development Tells Us
Level and demands
This course is open to all, and no prior knowledge is required.
This course is offered at FHEQ level 4 (first year undergraduate level), and you will be expected to engage in independent study in preparation for your assignments. Our 10-week Short Online Courses come with an expected total commitment of 100 study hours.
English Language Requirements
We do not insist that applicants hold an English language certification, but we warn that they may be at a disadvantage if their language skills are not of a comparable level to those qualifications listed on our website. If you are confident in your proficiency, please feel free to enrol. For more information regarding English language requirements, please see here.
Course aims
This course explores how minds form, from infancy to early adulthood, through developmental science and philosophy working in genuine dialogue.
Students will:
- Understand the major transitions in cognitive, emotional, and social development across the first two decades of life
- Reflect on how philosophical questions about knowledge, selfhood, and moral life are illuminated by developmental evidence
- Reflect on what this understanding means for individuals, parents, teachers, and therapists
IT requirements
Any standard web browser can be used to access course materials on our virtual learning environment, but we recommend Google Chrome. We also recommend that students join the live webinars on Microsoft Teams using a laptop or desktop computer rather than a phone or tablet due to the limited functionality of the app on these devices.
Programme details
This course begins on the 15 Apr 2027, which is when course materials are made available to students. Students should study these materials in advance of the first live meeting, which will be held on 22 Apr 2027, 19:00-20:00 (UK time).
Week 1: Neither Nature nor Nurture: Framing the Course
Week 2: Before the World: Prenatal and Neonatal Life
Week 3: The First Relationship: Intersubjectivity and the Dyadic System
Week 4: Building a World: Causation and Core Knowledge
Week 5: The Conceptual Turn: Language, Symbols and Abstract Thought
Week 6: Other Minds: Theory of Mind and the Social World
Week 7: The Moral Order: Middle Childhood
Week 8: The Body Reclaimed: Puberty as Phase Transition
Week 9: Identity in Oscillation: Adolescence
Week 10: The Enacted Self: Emerging Adulthood and What Development Tells Us
Teaching methods
This course takes place over 10 weeks, with a weekly learning schedule and weekly live webinar held on Microsoft Teams. Shortly before a course commences, students are provided with access to an online virtual learning environment, which houses the course content, including video lectures, complemented by readings or other study materials. Working through these materials over the course of the week will prepare students for a weekly 1-hour live webinar you will share with your expert tutor and fellow students. All courses are structured to amount to 100 study hours, so that on average, you should set aside 10 hours a week for study. Although the course finishes after 10 weeks, all learning materials remain available to all students for 12 months after the course has finished.
All courses are led by an expert tutor. Tutors guide students through the course materials as part of the live interactions during the weekly webinars. Tutors will also provide individualised feedback on your assignments. All online courses are taught in small student cohorts so that you and your peers will form a mutually supportive and vibrant learning community for the duration of the course. You will learn from your fellow students as well as from your tutor, and they will learn from you.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
Knowledge:
- Describe major transitions in cognitive, emotional, social, and embodied development from prenatal life through emerging adulthood.
- Explain key developmental concepts and theories, including intersubjectivity, language development, theory of mind, moral development, and identity formation.
Evaluation and Interpretation:
- Compare and evaluate different psychological and philosophical explanations of human development and selfhood.
- Assess how developmental evidence contributes to debates about knowledge, morality, language, and personal identity.
Application and Communication:
- Apply developmental concepts to practical contexts such as education, parenting, therapy, or personal reflection.
- Use the distinction between experiential and conceptual forms of knowing to reflect on human development and practice.
Assessment methods
You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.
Assessment methods
You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.
Level and demands
This course is open to all, and no prior knowledge is required.
This course is offered at FHEQ level 4 (first year undergraduate level), and you will be expected to engage in independent study in preparation for your assignments. Our 10-week Short Online Courses come with an expected total commitment of 100 study hours.
English Language Requirements
We do not insist that applicants hold an English language certification, but we warn that they may be at a disadvantage if their language skills are not of a comparable level to those qualifications listed on our website. If you are confident in your proficiency, please feel free to enrol. For more information regarding English language requirements, please see here.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Course Fee | £430.00 |
Module code: O26P847PCZ
Please use the ‘Book now’ button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form.