This book introduces current theories and research on disability, and builds on the premise that disability has to be understood from the dialectical dynamics of biology, psychology, and culture over time. Based on the newest empirical research on children with disabilities, the book overcomes the limitations of the medical and social models of disability by arguing for a dialectical biopsychosocial model. The proposed model builds on Vygotsky’s cultural-historical ideas of developmental incongruence, implying that the disability emerges from the misfit between individual abilities and the cultural-historical activity settings in which the child with impairments participates.

A Cultural-Historical Study of Children Learning Science: Foregrounding Affective Imagination in Play-based Settings

This book moves beyond the traditional constructivist and social-constructivist view of learning and development in science. It draws upon cultural-historical theory in order to theorise early childhood science education in relation to our currently globalised education contexts.