Introducing CHAT
This entry introduces the main postulates of the cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) following the legacy of Lev Vygotsky (1896–1943, Russia/USSR). The aim is to show how these theoretical ideas have influenced early childhood education (ECE) discourse. The entry highlights how the CHAT has provided opportunities to see child development and learning as deeply contextual issues. The accumulation of CHAT ideas through research in practice and some advancements in policy have enabled a vision of a child and an EC educator as both part of socio-cultural-historical dynamic contexts. To sum it up, the entry is another attempt to “advance a view of meaningful professional development in ECE as fundamentally collective, situated, historically accumulating, and multi-vocal” (Nuttall 2013, p. 202).
The CHAT theoretical framework is founded predominantly in the works of Lev Vygotsky and Aleksei Leontiev (1903–1979, Russia/USSR). Vygotsky is considered to be the creator of...
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References
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Nuttall, J. (2013). The potential of developmental work research as a professional learning methodology in early childhood education. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 14I(3), 201–211.
Popova, A. (2015). ‘Vygotsky rocks’! An argument that helps use lev Vygotsky’s ideas in early years practice. In M. Reed & R. Walker (Eds.), A critical companion to early childhood (pp. 82–92). London: Sage.
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Popova, A. (2019). Cultural Historical Activity Theory as influence in ECE. In: Peters, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Teacher Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6_104-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6_104-1
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