Development from a historical-cultural conception: Presentation of educational research in Spain and Mexico

The presentation of our monographic dossier indicates an interest in modern psychology towards applied research studies from a historical-cultural perspective. Although it is possible to find theoretical studies in the literature, publications that include concrete data obtained from this psychological conception are scarce. The goal of our dossier is to present theoretical and practical evidence related to aspects of psychological development and assessment of children from this perspective. In the studies included in the dossier, qualitative features of psychological development during preschool and early school age are described, and children's difficulties and development possibilities are analyzed with some specific proposals for educational practice. All the studies include empirical data obtained through the administration of either psychological assessment tools or developmental programmes. Such aspects of development as: the relationship between historical-cultural psychology and neuropsychology, internal and egocentric language, symbolic function, play activity as a form of preschool development, and acquisition of initial mathematic abilities are taken into account. The historical-cultural paradigm of human development together with activity theory represents a powerful means that can help improve specific methodologies for education and development in childhood.