One integrated framework that defines what we develop in each child, how we connect it with substantial academic content, and which teaching choices turn it into real learning. Every CogniPraxis Academy lesson is built on it.
The science of development defines what is worth cultivating. The science of learning defines how children learn. The Dual Design Method brings them together in every lesson.
Every capability, value and attitude is cultivated starting from the academic content of our lessons: never in a vacuum, never in isolation.
Model 1 defines what we develop in each child. The three dimensions are not steps to climb in order: they feed one another and are cultivated in parallel. For every capability we define what it means and the route through which it is mainly cultivated.
Three dimensions, cultivated together.
The functions that let a child hold information in mind, stop a quick but wrong answer, switch approach and plan. They are cultivated mainly within the academic task itself: that is where they carry a real load and real stakes.
Why it matters. Research links them to academic success, wellbeing, functioning at work and the quality of relationships.
main routesecondary
How the child thinks, relates to others and stands in the world, following the holistic framing of the OECD Learning Compass 2030. Thinking competencies live within the academic task; interpersonal, emotional, ethical and civic competencies also need the Bridge: content with human stakes.
Why it matters. Children need to think critically and creatively, understand themselves and others, make ethically informed decisions and take part responsibly in a changing world.
main routesecondary
Three core functions and eight psychological resources that let a child find purpose, keep going and regulate themselves. They are cultivated mainly through the way we work: the natural difficulty of each task, goals, choices and the climate of the group. We never create difficulty in order to measure it.
Why it matters. So that children find purpose in effort, persist flexibly, recover from a mistake and recognise when to change approach or ask for support.
main routesecondary
The three core functions are cultivated from Explorers onwards. In Sparks, resilience appears as “Everyday resilience”.
These are not separate competencies: they run through all the others. Self-determination fuels motivation; self-regulated learning gradually hands responsibility for learning over to the child.
A cyclical process: the child sets goals, chooses strategies, monitors their progress and reflects in order to improve.
A self-regulated learner does not depend on the teacher to know whether they are making progress.
It explains why a child learns out of inner need rather than outside pressure. It rests on three psychological needs:
Learning becomes intrinsically motivated when a child feels they choose, they can and they belong.
Current developmental research shows that they develop when practice is built into meaningful, purposeful activity: real content, rising demands, repetition over time, a supportive climate and personal meaning. That is why we cultivate them within the task itself, not through isolated exercises.
We do not promise higher general cognitive ability or across-the-board gains in performance. Transfer of learning to new contexts is a design goal and an observation criterion, not a guaranteed outcome.
We follow the holistic understanding of competency in the OECD Learning Compass 2030: knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, together.
Every lesson is designed twice: once for the knowledge a child will gain, and once for what that knowledge can help them develop. Knowledge and growth are designed together and do not compete for lesson time.
The academic content and learning objectives, with success criteria for each objective.
The growth targets within the same content, each with the route through which it is cultivated.
The right methods, strategies and practices turn dual design into everyday teaching.
Capabilities are not cultivated through academic content alone. In the second pass, every growth target in the lesson plan states the route through which it is cultivated. The Developmental Map sets the main route for each capability.
The academic problem itself. This is where executive functions and critical, creative and systems thinking carry a real load.
MAIN ROUTE FOR
From the day’s knowledge to a neighbouring social, emotional, ethical or cultural question. This is where empathy, ethical thinking and citizenship are cultivated.
MAIN ROUTE FOR
Roles, climate, choices and the natural difficulty of each task. This is where collaboration, emotion regulation, resilience and Mental Toughness are cultivated.
MAIN ROUTE FOR
10–14 minutes before reflection. Children move from what they have just learned to a human question, and close with one small action or one position.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD BRIDGE
EXAMPLE · SPARKS 6–8
In the Bridge we assess how the child thinks, never what they believe.
A story, a person, an animal or an object. Questions like “how does it feel?” and “what would we do?”. Ends with one small action or one sentence.
“The line on the ship”Real situations, data and the neighbourhood. Children connect a choice with a consequence and write down one action.
“A winter without heating”Dilemmas, fairness and identity. A line of positions, reasoning with data and values, a principle for a real request.
“Whitewash, plane trees and the delivery rider”Complex public issues. A reasoned objection, an article or a proposal for a real audience.
“The gap in the CV”Model 2 defines how knowledge and growth become teaching practice. We use only research-informed methods, strategies and practices, and we choose them for the learning and growth objectives of each lesson.
They shape the type of learning experience.
explicit instruction · modelling · gradual release of responsibility
phenomena · challenges · projects · Design Thinking
play · storytelling · drama · making
collaborative and dialogic learning · peer learning
place-based learning · service learning · education for sustainability
computational thinking · blended learning · human–AI collaboration
Strong research evidence for learning, memory and feedback.
retrieval practice · spaced practice · interleaving · dual coding · cognitive load
scaffolding · differentiation · explicit teaching of metacognition · transfer of learning
formative assessment · success criteria · self- and peer assessment
The everyday repertoire that brings the design into the classroom.
live modelling · effective questioning · analogies
Think-Pair-Share · Socratic dialogue · reflection protocols
Jigsaw · station rotation · gallery walk
short low-stakes quizzes · concept maps · exit tickets
experiments · simulations · design and make
flipped classroom · multimedia creation · digital simulations
Cognitive science of learning · Social constructivism (Vygotsky, Bruner) · Experiential learning (Dewey, Kolb)
Complementary perspectives: communities of practice · learning through making · holistic education
Guided instruction is essential when new knowledge is being built; inquiry becomes stronger when there is a solid base. Choosing between them depends on the objective, the content and the child’s level, not on teaching style.
The right teaching structure sets learning free. Creativity is a result of design, when the design is right and the educator is prepared.
The structure is the same in every zone; the depth, length and autonomy change. Each stage is there for a specific reason.
Connection and purpose: every child knows they belong to the group and what they will do today.
steady routines · objectives in plain words
Retrieval of what came before and activation of the knowledge the new material needs.
retrieval practice · spaced practice
The new knowledge, through explicit explanation, modelling or inquiry, depending on the objective.
hinge question with a decision rule
Knowledge becomes a task with real difficulty; this is where executive functions and thinking are mainly exercised.
project · experiment · roles in the group
From the day’s knowledge to a human question, closing with one action or position.
dialogic discussion · line of positions
What I learned, how I learned it, how sure I am, what I will do differently.
exit ticket with confidence rating · metacognition
Minutes refer to 90′ lessons. In Sparks (75′): 5 · 10 · 22 · 18 · 12 · 8. See a sample lesson plan for each zone →
We give as much support as a child needs and reduce it gradually as their autonomy grows. Responsibility for learning changes hands.
modelling · guidance · scaffolding
effort · exploration · feedback
organisation · choices · reflection
self-regulation · initiative · persistence
at school · in new contexts · in life
A direction, not a timetable: support adapts to the child and the task, not just their age.
Assessment is part of the design of every lesson, not an add-on at the end. It is there to help each child grow, not to rank them.
One question shows whether the group is ready to move on. The rule is set in advance in the lesson plan: if 6 out of 8 children answer correctly, we move on; if not, we return to it another way.
Each child answers and says how sure they are. A correct answer given with low confidence and a wrong answer given with high confidence call for different next steps.
Shared criteria
One teaches; the other observes the growth targets against shared criteria. The children know the criteria from the start.
For every milestone we ask not only whether the child does it, but with how much support and in how many contexts.
SIGNIFICANT GUIDANCE
ONE QUESTION OR REMINDER
NO SUPPORT
IN A NEW FIELD TOO
Every capability has milestones for the four zones. The same capability returns in a more advanced form as the child grows, and what has been mastered keeps being practised. Choose a capability.
Inhibitory control. Stops a quick but wrong answer or reaction and chooses the appropriate one.
Pauses before answering a question that “looks” easy: rereads it, then answers.
Pauses at the points where they have made a hasty mistake before, and checks before answering.
When others give a different answer, checks the evidence before changing their own.
Completes their checking steps to the end, even when they see others have already finished.
Empathy and respect for diversity. Understands the experience and position of another person, even when it differs from their own.
Realises that something they found funny upset someone else, and stops.
Represents the view of someone who disagrees with them faithfully enough for that person to recognise it.
Recognises when a disagreement is about values rather than facts.
When someone describes an experience they have not lived, tries first to understand it before comparing it with their own.
Optimistic explanatory style. Explains failures as specific and temporary, not as general and permanent.
After something that did not go well, says what they will try next time instead of “I can’t”.
Distinguishes “I didn’t manage it today” from “I never manage it”.
Explains a poor result as specific and temporary, not as general and permanent.
After a negative result, separates what was changeable from what they do not control, without generalising it to themselves.
Every capability with the milestones of the four zones and the four levels, from Emerging to Transferable.
What parents see. Progress, in three reports: after every lesson, at the end of every unit and twice a year. Measurable progress on every objective. No comparison with other children.
See the samples on the Academy page →We never create difficulty in order to measure it. The Developmental Profile describes and supports; it does not rank and it is not a clinical diagnosis.
It begins in the lesson and reaches into every part of life.
Deeper understanding and meaningful progress in learning.
Health, balance and stability under pressure.
Initiative and responsibility, at school and later at work.
Relationships, values and the capacity to keep learning.
The four horizons are not sequential: all are nurtured at every age. Academic success without wellbeing is fragile; agency without knowledge is empty.
On the Academy page you will find a lesson for each zone, complete sample lesson plans and the reports parents receive.
The originality of CogniPraxis lies in integration and implementation: in how established research becomes a coherent curriculum and a lesson that works.
Best & Miller, 2010 · Diamond, 2013 · Doebel, 2020 · Donati et al., 2017 · Kitil et al., 2025 · Miyake et al., 2000 · Niebaum & Munakata, 2023 · Vosniadou et al., 2018 · Zelazo, 2015
Beghetto & Kaufman, 2014 · Durlak et al., 2011 · Halpern, 2014 · Lucas & Spencer, 2017 · OECD, 2019 · OECD Learning Compass 2030, 2019 · Pellegrino & Hilton, 2012 · World Economic Forum, 2023
Lin et al., 2017 · Stamatis et al., 2021 · Stamatis et al., 2023 · Yeager et al., 2019
Panadero, 2017 · Pintrich, 2004 · Ryan & Deci, 2000 · Ryan & Deci, 2017 · Zimmerman, 2002
Barnett & Ceci, 2002 · Bransford & Schwartz, 1999 · Perkins & Salomon, 1992
Bruner, 1996 · Dewey, 1938 · Dunlosky et al., 2013 · Kirschner et al., 2006 · Kolb, 1984 · Sweller et al., 2019 · Vygotsky, 1978 · Willingham, 2009
Agarwal et al., 2021 · Black & Wiliam, 1998 · Hattie, 2009 · Hattie & Timperley, 2007 · Wiliam, 2011
Darling-Hammond et al., 2017 · Fixsen et al., 2005 · Kraft et al., 2018
