Vygotsky argued that children are cultural beings, living in particular communities at particular times and living and constructing a particular history. Research framed from a socio-cultural perspective is less about revealing ‘the eternal child’ and more about uncovering ‘the historical child’ (Vygotsky, 1987). Socio-cultural perspectives take into account the social, historical and cultural dimensions of everyday activities and seek to better understand children within this richly framed research context. In this book, the authors have taken a socio-cultural view of research and practice for framing their analysis of early childhood education in the UK, New Zealand and Australia. Many scholars have built on Vygotsky’s original writing, with important strands in activity theory, social-constructivism and socio-historical research. The materials introduced in the chapters of this book have foregrounded existing taken-for-granted practices, illuminated historically located activities and problematised cultural practices. As such, the authors have located the historical and the contemporary side-by-side in order to envisage new directions for early childhood education. This final chapter brings together the emerging themes and concepts presented in the preceding four parts of the book with a discussion of the theoretical underpinnings and their implications for early childhood pedagogy, knowledge, assessment and quality. Collectively, the material contained in this book gives a glimpse of the cultural baggage as well as the cultural capital that we have acquired. Through the rich material presented in each of the chapters, it is possible to see both the transformations of early childhood education in practice and the building of cultural capital for our profession. In bringing together respected scholars of socio-cultural theory in early childhood education from three nations, we seek to build a new community of practice, with new conceptual tools for strengthening our understanding of and practice in early childhood education.
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