The relation between individual and collective development of social competence

This thesis seeks to present the academic journey of how the concept of social and emotional development was re-theorised as social competence from a cultural-historical perspective. Emotional development in the field of early childhood education has traditionally been conceptualised as part of a suite of domains of child development – social-emotional, cognitive, language, and fine and gross motor. As such, emotional development has traditionally been studied independently of the other forms of development. Through exploring a range of impacts and contexts on children’s emotional and personality development form trauma to cultural difference, the content of this staff thesis moves from the orientation of social and emotional development towards a cultural-historical conception of emotion regulation as a collective practice, where a new conception of social competence is theorised.