Cultural-historical perspective in Spain and Portugal: developing theoretical and methodological approaches

Abstract

Cultural-historical research has had a relevant presence in Spain and, to a lesser extent, in Portugal, since the 1970s. A review of the state of the art of the cultural-historical approach in these two countries allows us to identify four general lines of research: 1) sociocultural activities, mental actions, and semiotic mediation; 2) education in schools; 3) education beyond schools, including educational practices in community-cultural contexts; and 4) identity construction in (other) sociocultural settings. This perspective has been developed by an active community of researchers in the fields of psychology, education, and other social sciences.