ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the dialectical approach to development (especially Vygotsky's) and some ways in which it has influenced recent theorizing in development, education and disability. An important feature of Vygotsky's theory is that, it offers a link between individual cognitive development and the culture in which the individual develops. The contributions of Rubinstein and Riegel also deserve mention, although it is Vygotsky's theory that has become the best known. However, presentations and understandings of Vygotsky's theory have become distorted. Riegel's contribution to dialectical developmental theorizing has been described by his associate Meacham (1999). In the years leading up to his comparatively early death he developed a form of dialecticism, disseminated through his university lectures, publications and conferences. Dialecticism represents a move in the direction of more holistic and systemic views of development. In this respect, Rubinstein's and Riegel's notion of constitutive relationalism is worthy of fresh consideration.
