Child Development Theory

Reconsidering Universality and Child Development Theory

During my first few years in the field, I discovered the writings of Lev Vygotsky and his followers (Wertsch, Cole, Wells, Lave, Scribner, Stairs, Roggoff). The essence of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory is that the specific society and culture in which children are raised have a pervasive role in their development. Indeed, to speak of the role of culture in development is to understate the case. Culture, besides being the matrix in which development occurs, includes values and perspectives that define what both humanity and development are.

My view is that children should not be slotted into their expected developmental norm. Instead, what is needed is for early childhood professionals to develop an in-depth understanding of children's cultures and the cultural dimensions of human development. What really matters is for students and early childhood professionals to become aware of the cultural conditioning in how one sees child and family functioning; to broaden our conceptualization of children-in-the-world.

Because of my interest in issues of values and norms as culturally determined, several of my publications have critiqued the assumptions with mainstream practice and as described in authoritative guides to practice. Students who have taken courses with me are exposed to a different perspective: contextual, situated and non-universalistic approaches to the study of children and families. This approach has also been used in my team's research program focusing on the needs of children and families in early childhood education and care settings.