Description: The contributors to this collection employ the analytic resources of cultural-historical theory to examine the relationship between childhood and children's development under different societal conditions. In particular they attend to relationships between development, emotions, motives and identities, and the social practices in which children and young people may be learners. These practices are knowledge-laden, imbued with cultural values and emotionally freighted by those who already act in them. The book first discusses the organizing principles that underpin a cultural-historical understanding of motives, development, and learning. The second section foregrounds children's lives to exemplify the implications of these ideas as they are played out - examining how children are positioned as learners in pre-school, primary school, and play environments. The final section uses the core ideas to look at the implementation of policy aimed at enhancing children's engagement with opportunities for learning, by discussing motives in the organizations that shape children's development.
Brief description: Mariane Hedegaard is Professor in Developmental Psychology and Head of the Centre for Person, Practice, Development and Culture at the University of Copenhagen. In 2010 she was awarded a Doctorate honoris causa by the University of Pablo Olavide, Seville. Professor Hedegaard was the founding president of the International Society for Cultural Research and Activity Theory (ISCRAT), now ISCAR. Her research interests include children's activities across different institutional practices. She has authored and co-edited 23 books, nine in English, including Constructing Childhood: Global-Local Policies and Practices; Studying Children: A Cultural-Historical Approach and Vygotsky and Special Needs Education: Rethinking Support for Children and Schools.
Review Quotes: "...Hedegaard (psychology, Univ. of Copenhagen, Denmark), Edwards (education, Oxford Univ., UK), and Fleer (education, Monash Univ., Australia) have edited a collection of papers dealing with a topic rarely touched on in the US.... This collection will be of more interest to theorists of education..."
--J. Mercer, emerita, Richard, Stockton College, CHOICE