What is "pedology"

Pedology \Pe*dol"o*gy\, n. [Gr. pai^s, paido`s, child + -logy.] (Med.) Pediatrics.

"scientific study of the soil," 1924, from Greek pedon "ground, earth," from PIE root *ped- (see foot (n.)) + -logy. Related: Pedological. Earlier it was a word for "the study of children" (1894), from pedo-.

Etymology 1 n. The sub-discipline of soil science that: studies soils as a component of natural systems or deals with soil genesis and soil classification or studies the soil profile or solum in its natural setting. Etymology 2

alt. The study of the behaviour and development of children. n. The study of the behaviour and development of children.

Pedology (from Greek: πέδον, pedon, "soil"; and λόγος, logos, "study") is the study of soils in their natural environment. It is one of two main branches of soil science, the other being edaphology. Pedology deals with pedogenesis, soil morphology, and soil classification, while edaphology studies the way soils influence plants, fungi, and other living things.

Pedology may refer to:

• Pedology (soil study)
• Pedology (children study)
• Pediatrics

Pedology (paidology, paedology) is the study of children's behavior and development (as distinct from pedagogy, the art or science of teaching).

The origins of this trend in psychology and pedagogy go back to the end of the 18th century with the separation of a branch of psychology that would form the basis of pedagogy, a pedagogic psychology or "experimental pedagogic psychology", "experimental pedagogy", "experimental education".

G. Stanley Hall (1844-1924) fostered pedology as a separate study, and also became instrumental in the development of modern educational psychology. An American researcher, Oscar Chrisman, proposed the term "pedology" in 1893. At the end of the 19th century, pedology as a comprehensive study of the child came to prominence in Europe as an attempt to create a study of children in the manner of natural sciences. In 1909 Professor Kazimierz Twardowski organized a Pedological Society in Lviv, Austro-Hungary (now Ukraine). In 1910 a similar society was organized in Kraków. In 1911 the first World Congress in Pedology took place in Brussels, Belgium, with attendants from 22 countries.

World War I (1914-1918) effectively put an end to the development of this study in Western Europe.

Since pedology as a branch of science never reached its maturity, there is no common established understanding as to the scope or instruments of pedology.

Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland became the first university in the United States to offer a Bachelor's Degree in pedology.