Cultural studies of science education

• DOI: 10.1007/s11422-008-9110-4
• Publication Date: 2008-04-03T12:11:25Z
• Authors: Joanna Higgins; Geraldine McDonald
• Keywords: 4. Education; 05 social sciences; 0503 education

In response to Stetsenko’s [2008, Cultural Studies of Science Education, 3] call for a more unified approach in sociocultural perspectives, this paper traces the origins of the use of sociocultural ideas in New Zealand from the 1970s to the present. Of those New Zealanders working from a sociocultural perspective who responded to our query most had encountered these ideas while overseas. More recently activity theory has been of interest and used in reports of work in early childhood, workplace change in the apple industry, and in-service teacher education. In all these projects the use of activity theory has been useful for understanding how the elements of a system can transform the activity. We end by agreeing with Stetsenko that there needs to be a more concerted approach by those working from a sociocultural perspective to recognise the contribution of others in the field.