Dr Pauline McClenaghan, Executive Director of the Lifestart Foundation, presented a joint paper with Japanese researchers at the third congress of the International Society for Cultural and Activity Research (ISCAR) held in Rome September 5-10 2011.

ISCAR is a scientific association that aims at:

• developing multidisciplinary theoretical and empirical research on societal, cultural and historical dimensions of human practices
• promoting mutual scientific communication and research cooperation among ISCAR  members

The primary frame of reference that brings researchers from different disciplines into ISCAR is an interest in a related set of theoretical perspectives that were first formulated in the 1920s and 1930s by such researchers as L.S. Vygotsky, A.N. Leontiev, A.R. Luria, M. M. Bakhtin and S.L. Rubinshtein. International interest in these perspectives is growing especially among educational researchers, psychologists and linguists. Child development, learning, play and transition to schooling is one of a number of inter-related themes addressed by ISCAR researchers.

The paper titled ‘Mediating communities in social inclusion interventions: learning in transition and the restructuring of self and identity’, presented by Professor Takashi Miyazaki, Dr McClenaghan, Dr Kendo Otaka and Ph.D student Shimpei Sugiyama, outlined a theoretical model informing the analysis of four social interventions, including Lifestart, aimed at improving outcomes for disadvantaged children and young people. The presentation was very well received by the participants and generated much lively and animated discussion.