The ecology of cognitive development: A qualitative analysis of the social and cognitive experience made by a group of toddlers in an educational setting

The study proposes an analysis of the processes through which the material and symbolic features of the setting and the activities of the educators interact to determine the children's experience in an early educational centre. This analysis is of particular interest with regard to both educational practice and understanding developmental processes during children's second year of life. During this period, important changes occur in children's interaction with the environment in its physical and social components, on the basis of their cognitive development as well as of their acquired capacity to independent locomotion. Two examples will be presented that illustrate how the educators' activities and the spatial arrangement of the setting combine and interact with toddlers' recently acquired independent locomotion in sustaining their cognitive engagement and social encounters during their everyday routine in an educational centre. The discussion of the examples opens new perspectives for understanding early sociality in a group situation and for innovating educational practices.