Inventario Multicultural de la Expresión de la Cólera – Hostilidad (IMECH).

Several socio-cultural strategies have been suggested to help gain a greater understanding of learning in varied contexts. Certain theories of learning, inspired by the work of Vygotsky, are the source of debates and disagreements among scholars and academics (McInerney, Walker and Liem, 2011; Al-Nassar, 2011). According to Vygotsky (1978), learners gain knowledge and skills when they are engaged in learning with more qualified experts who guide them in the process of learning. This, therefore, suggests the importance of interactions between the learner and the teacher. According to Al-Nassar (2011:33), in this way, “learners find meanings not just through individual experiences but also through social interactions”. Hence, Vygotsky claims that “development involves

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learning much more than domain knowledge and includes becoming a contributing member of a community and society” (Hedges and Cullen, 2011:7). Therefore, according to Vygotsky: “interaction and collaboration could lead to the development of learning” (Al-Nassar, 2011:34), which means that collaboration and learning within cultural-social groups constitute a resource for learners and a source of knowledge, and the context contributes to this situation. More specifically, it can be seen that teachers interact and communicate within both university and school settings, during their preparation to teach, as formal educational contexts. However, a variety of other social and cultural groups such as family and friends, are usually informal, and also affect teachers’ learning and teaching. Hence, teachers’ development seems to greatly depend upon their experience of interactions among these social groups, which also suggests that role models and the methods used to form their experience contribute to enhancing their knowledge and skills.

Vygotsky wrote about “aesthetics, human and child development, language and thought, education and pedagogy, methodology and the crisis in psychology” (McInerney, Walker and Liem, 2011:4). His ideas were conveyed, developed, reinforced, or discussed by other scholars involved in the study of human understanding in relation to the variety of socio-cultural contexts to address contemporary dilemmas. His basic idea (McInerney, Walker and Liem, 2011) is that human thought and action are linked to fundamental socio-cultural factors inherent to the context which have an important impact on learning processes and outcomes. For Khomais (2007), this theory relates to the notion that because learning/teaching occur under different cultural settings, it is reasonable to expect different outcomes:

Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory described how human minds develop in relation to their interaction with their culture in general, which appears to be applicable to all societies, in developed and developing countries. From this point of view, the process of development is the same, but the difference is in the context where the development happens (Khomais, 2007:63).

In this respect, Khomais (2007) agrees with John-Steiner and Mahn (1996) that learners’ experiences differ in relation to varied circumstances. The perspective of the post-Vygotskian scholars understands “culture as a dynamic system of

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meaning, with values, goals, and practices that promote particular approaches to education” (Hedges and Cullen, 2011: 5).

Thus, socio-cultural perspectives illustrate how social interactions, culture, and ideology impact on human processes or are likewise impacted by humans themselves (Schoen, 2011). Although Vygotskian theory states “that knowledge is formed in social interaction and broader cultural activity” (Hickey, 2011:139), socio-cultural research relates to a certain knowledge of forms of inquiry about specific issues and requires “the added dimension of thinking about the phenomenon in a way that sees the big picture of the embedded context in which it occurs” (Schoen, 2011: 18). Thus, socio-cultural research tries to see the whole picture, and the social and cultural factors which affect human activity.

Several researchers such as Winne have also investigated how socio-cultural contexts influence motivation, claiming that motivation needs a variety of goals where students challenge themselves and each other (Winne, 2004, as cited in McInerney, Walker and Liem, 2011). Likewise, Vadeboncoeur, Vellos and Goessling (2011) recommended a conceptual framework putting forward a socio-cultural perspective on identity construction, suggesting that learning was a form of social, cultural and historical practice that always involves an interaction of identity, knowledge, and values, even when the views of all parties differ. Knowledge alters the psychology of the teacher positively and/or negatively. As teachers’ identities change, their value systems develop as does their self-appraisal (Vadeboncoeur, Vellos and Goessling, 2011; 247).

Based on this, socio-cultural theory is appropriate in this study because it views the learning context as a core element of teachers’ learning (Goldhaber, 2000, as cited in Wang, 2007). Indeed, from this perspective, the context includes the physical surroundings, and the individuals evolving in it, in addition to the values and beliefs shaped by these cultural factors. Moreover, the notions of peoples’ interactions with and transformation of people and context are fundamental aspects of this theory, whereby all the humans are deeply influenced by these processes and create different forms of meanings (Stevenson, 2004). Nonetheless, the socio-cultural perspective is more than the mere social level of analysis (Schoen, 2011:28) which is why this research adopts this framework

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including data from a wide range of levels (Ibid, 2011) to enhance our understanding of how individuals evolve in this particular context of in-service education in KSA.

Hence, it can be seen that three main social contexts impact on teachers’ learning and teaching, in addition to the KSA policy context. The global context may also have a significant impact on teachers in the Saudi context, despite the efforts of conservatives and religious authorities to preserve the local values and culture.

It has been argued that “people construct their identity through social interaction, and different sides of identity arise in different situation” (Kaasila and Lauriala, 2010). Burr (2003) states that knowledge comes from social interaction and is altered by the culture and history, as well as those interacting in this context. Moreover, for Alebaikan (2010:119) “religion and culture in Saudi Arabia not only shape people’s attitudes, practices, and behaviours, but also form the construction of the reality of their lives.”

Socio-cultural theory is relevant to this research because teachers are believed to be learning and teaching in a fairly unique context consisting of social, cultural, and historical specificities. Teachers’ knowledge is formed, shaped, and co-constructed within the educational settings and training, and can be affected by teachers’ social, cultural, and historical contextual aspects. Also, in Saudi Arabia being a teacher is a socially and religiously acceptable career for women, which means that they are likely to construct a teacher’s identity that is aligned with the expectations of their community and society. Learning to teach involves replicating a set of prevailing Islamic and Arab values and beliefs in the KSA which are considered as founding principles influencing many aspects of Saudis’ lives. At university, teachers learn about educational theories from other cultural perspectives, so it is worth asking whether these dominant ideas reproduced at the level of the curriculum may be a source of tensions or concerns.

According to Faulkner, Littleton, and Woodhead (2014), a socio-cultural paradigm has a benefit that features of early childhood are well-understood as a product of specific social, economic, and cultural processes. Through this, the

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importance of universal maturation processes cannot be denied, nor could the particular vulnerability of young children to adversity be ignored. Nevertheless, the socio-cultural paradigm highlights that early childhood processes and contexts are shaped by human actions which are strongly social in character and are mediated by cultural processes at all times including competing cultural perspectives on the needs of young children, ethnicity, gender and other factors. In current times, all of these themes have become one of the significant catalysts for empirical and theoretical studies that originate within a variety of disciplines, such as anthropology, sociology, development studies, and cultural studies (Faulkner, Littleton, and Woodhead, 2014). Among them, some of the studies were conducted within the traditional scientific disciplines, more specifically socio-cultural theories of early development. However, thinking related to early childhood is impacted by a much more major critique of conventional research and theory. Post-modernist, social constructionist and post-structural perspectives have become more influential, which has effectively liberated early childhood from narrow conceptualisations of what is normal, necessary, and natural, and has opened the door to more political and historical perspectives on policies, practices, and institutions and the ways in which knowledge, theories, and beliefs regarding young children regulate their lives. On the other hand, Carnevale et al. (2015) discussed that there have been trends towards the interdisciplinary childhood studies which recognised that conventional studies based on discipline have fragmented the child as traditional professional specialisation. However, the inter-disciplinary studies have offered a meeting place for a variety of diverse standpoints on early childhood which is more consistent with the trend towards integrated services and more coordinated policies in education, health, and social care which are underpinned by a holistic view of the independent rights of children.

As discussed below, socio-cultural perspectives have been used extensively to theories adults’ and children’s learning in social contexts. According to the development of young children, which is a social process, children learn to feel, think, act and communicate within social relationships in the context of specific cultural practices and settings which are subject to interventions regarding beliefs of how children must be treated and what it means to be a child

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(Peterson, McIntyre and Forsyth, 2016). Moreover, in early childhood, cultures are deeply social and can be expressed by means of peer group play, patterns of consumption of commercial toys, styles of behaviour and dress for instance (Kehily and Swann, 2003). McGurk (2017) discussed that childhood is basically a social phenomenon, since the practices in childhood contexts are constructed socially. Furthermore, these practices change over time, especially in contemporary societies with the expansion of digital technologies in children’s home and family lives

Also, the notion of childhood has been understood, regulated, and institutionalised differently in various societies and periods of history. However, early childhood has been differentiated and re-invented constantly relying upon the cultural and social characteristics of children, their ethnicity and gender, poverty and wealth and other factors (Wood et al., 2014). In addition, early childhood is also a political concern which is marked by overall inequalities in resources, opportunities, and provisions which are shaped by global and local forces (Richter et al., 2017).

These viewpoints have drawn attention to the ways in which the concept of early childhood is developed and re-developed by and for children. Therefore, the settings, pedagogies, as well as practices of early childhood are shaped by the activity and creativity of human beings, which are additionally shaped by opportunities, constraints, and circumstances, and which are informed by multiple dialogues regarding the nature and needs of children. As a result, any specific requirements of early childhood services, pedagogy, and curriculum reflect specific combinations of cultural aspirations and assumptions, in addition to power relationships that exist in societies between children, governments, professionals, and families.