Abstract
This chapter gives a general conceptual introduction to the educational approach called “Developmental Education”, as it was developed in the Netherlands on the basis of Vygotskij’s Cultural-historical theory of human development. This educational approach is usually profiled as a play-based curriculum; what this means will be clarified in the course of this chapter. The main foundational concepts will be explained: agency, social situation of development, meaningful learning, involvement, leading activity, zone of proximal development, and finally play will be discussed. The notion of play in particular is presented as a fundamental concept that characterises the whole approach as play-based. This chapter will serve as a reference frame for those that follow.
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Notes
- 1.
In fact a similar position is taken by Bachtin. For him “postupok” (deed) is an essentially ethical act, an enactment of personalised values. According to him the deed is intrinsically related to “answerability” (i.e. taking responsibility), and is the basic expression of personality (see Bachtin 1986; p. 7–8). Further analysis of the notion of the deed would be interesting, but it is beyond the scope of this chapter.
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van Oers, B. (2012). Developmental Education: Foundations of a Play-Based Curriculum. In: van Oers, B. (eds) Developmental Education for Young Children. International perspectives on early childhood education and development, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4617-6_2
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