Lens Of Cultural Historical Activity Theory Research Articles

Teacher’s Boundary Crossing for Continuing Professional Development During the Covid-19 Through the Lens of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory: A Case Study of a Novice Chinese Language Teacher in a UK School

Teacher continuing professional development (CPD) is almost always on the top of educational agendas in any country of the world. While existing studies primarily emphasize effective CPD programmes, this qualitative research seeks to deepen our understanding by examining the nuanced interplay of teacher’s unique working contexts, historical backgrounds, and social influences within the CPD landscape. To investigate the strong shocks resulted from the special period of time – the Covid-19 pandemic – to teachers and the approaches to accommodate the issues on the basis of the workplace, this qualitative study adopts a longitudinal, single case design to examine a Chinese language teacher’s boundary crossing in CPD during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic. Data was collected over a period of seven months, from the beginning of January 2023, the time of the COVID-19 pandemic to the end of July 2023, students returning to school. Guided by boundary crossing and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) theoretical frameworks, this study suggests that the teacher employed a variety of CPD tools which supplemented and interconnected for different CPD objectives. CHAT conceptualize the complexity and the dynamic nature of CPD and contextulize the trajectory of boundary crossing. By employing a nuanced and comprehensive approach, this study contributes to the ongoing discourse on teacher CPD, recognizing the complexities of teacher CPD and the intricate interplay of contextual factors that shape teachers’ professional development trajectories.

The impact of standards on novice teachers during mandated teaching induction: lessons from the Indonesian context

ABSTRACT Standards-based induction is a nationally mandated support programme for newly appointed government-registered teachers in Indonesia. The Indonesian government continues to promote teacher standards in their teacher improvement scheme even though they have been criticised in the anglophone literature as a weak driver of teacher learning. This study investigated the impact of standards on novice-teacher learning during induction through the analytical lens of cultural-historical activity theory. Using a multiple case study approach, the data were collected from three elementary schools through interviews with novice teachers, mentors, and school principals as well as document analysis. The findings are that standards-based assessment has the potential to enable teachers to demonstrate the necessary competencies, but the learning process does not always work effectively in practice. This failure was due to the teachers’ lack of trust in the standards and the confusion created when they negotiated the different expectations placed upon them. The confusion stemmed from the clash between the standards and local community values, the fragmented strategy of introducing and implementing the specified measures, the top-down nature of the command structure and harmony-oriented working cultures.

Learning to co-teach: understanding the co- in a mentored co-teaching activity

PurposeCo-teaching is a foundational mentoring model used in teacher residency programs in urban classrooms throughout the United States of America. Beyond the basic understanding of co-teaching in categorizing classroom models, the purpose of this qualitative case study is to investigate the dialectical tensions manifested in mentored co-teaching activities through the lens of cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT).Design/methodology/approachDesigned as a qualitative case study of 17 pairs of teaching-residents and mentor-teachers, the authors used thematic analysis to scrutinize archival interview data in an urban teacher residency program located in the largest megalopolis of the USA Northeast. The authors used CHAT-based concept coding to analyze the interview narratives from participants across different secondary school placements as they reflected on their co-teaching philosophy and the relationships they built.FindingsThe authors found that for teaching-residents and mentor-teachers to co-develop as co-teachers, they jointly must learn to resolve the dialectical tensions of unbalanced classroom ownership vs added co-working responsibilities, breaking from routine so that a partnership can grow. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the prefix co- should be understood as (1) shifts in thinking that transcend the status quo and (2) the orchestration of human capital to change norms.Originality/valueThis new understanding of the prefix co- allows teacher education programs to better mediate the dialectical tensions experienced by co-teachers in a mentored co-teaching activity, from individual teacher learning (e.g. a pair/dyad comprising one teaching-resident and one mentor-teacher) to collective co-learning across activity systems (e.g. partnership-based teacher education).

Examining preservice science teachers' implementation of language‐ and literacy‐integrated science through a cultural historical activity theory lens

AbstractThe increasing attention in science education reform documents to language and literacy, coupled with the growing linguistic diversity of United States classrooms, means that science teacher educators and researchers are facing an important task of preparing secondary science preservice teachers (PSTs) to teach a language‐ and literacy‐integrated form of science in linguistically diverse classrooms. Unfortunately, research in this field is in its nascency, and while some studies have addressed PSTs' instructional planning for and implementation of language‐ and literacy‐integrated science instruction, none have considered the unique contextual factors that inform PSTs' uptake of these reform‐oriented instructional practices, despite many studies suggesting student‐teaching contexts are a key factor in PSTs' instructional decisions. The purpose of this multiple case study was to consider the unique contextual factors that supported and constrained three PSTs' uptake of language‐ and literacy‐integrated science practices through a Cultural‐Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) lens. Findings indicated that PSTs' implementation of language‐ and literacy‐integrated science instruction was shaped by interactions among the mediating elements of their student teaching activity systems, including PSTs' division of labor with mentor teachers, the classroom and school norms, PSTs' perceptions of their classroom communities, and PSTs' past life experiences and resources. These findings highlight the roles that different elements of learning‐to‐teach contexts can play in PSTs' enactment of reform‐oriented instruction. Implications for science teacher education, instruction for emergent bilinguals, and research are discussed.

Understanding teacher learning in lesson study through a cultural–historical activity theory lens

Although lesson study (LS) is widely considered a promising approach to teachers' professional development, the variation in teacher learning in LS is not yet well understood. Using a cultural–historical activity theory lens, we identify aspects of LS as a learning activity of significance for teacher learning. Using mixed-methods analysis of questionnaire and interview data drawn from 17 secondary school teachers, we find multiple variables of relevance in relation to teacher learning. This study clearly shows that participants’ understanding of and attitude toward LS are at least as important as how LS is conducted.

Creating Spaces for Collaboration in Community Co‐design

AbstractUrgent societal challenges have led to unease in our socio‐cultural interactions and the production systems that underpin our lives. To confront such challenges, collaboration stands out as an essential approach in accomplishing joint goals and producing new knowledge. It calls for interdisciplinary methodologies such as co‐design, an approach capable of bridging multiple expertise. The core activities of co‐design are based on the premise of collaboration and on developing creative social environments. Yet achieving collaboration through co‐design is challenging as people need to understand each other, and develop trust and rapport. We argue that ‘informal‐mutual learning’ is central to building mutual understanding. This article explores how we create spaces for collaboration through co‐design by examining the social environments supporting them. It examines the value of collaboration and its impact upon participants within an action research project conducted in Scotland. We identified Cultural‐Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a suitable theoretical framework. It offers support for holistic inquiry into participation and learning. Its strength was in the attention that it pays to multi‐dimensional human interactions within the social environment. This led to an understanding of the concepts of boundary‐crossing and boundary space examined through a CHAT lens. The findings shed light on four designerly conditions supporting informal‐mutual learning when engaged in collaboration during co‐design situations: choreography and orchestration, aesthetics, playfulness, and quality and quantity of participation. The findings enable us to elaborate on the theorisation of boundary space, a theoretical space for the assemblage of multiple levels of expertise to achieve collaboration.

Struggling to fit the white coat and the role of contextual factors within a hospital organisation\xa0- an ethnographic study on the first months as newly graduated doctors

BackgroundDespite increased focus on improving the transition from being a medical student to working as a junior doctor, many newly graduated doctors (NGD) report the process of fitting the white coat as stressful, and burnout levels indicate that they might face bigger challenges than they can handle. During this period, the NGDs are in a process of learning how to be doctors, and this takes place in an organisation where the workflow and different priorities set the scene. However, little is known about how the hospital organisation influences this process. Thus, we aimed to explore how the NGDs experience their first months of work in order to understand 1) which struggles they are facing, and 2) which contextual factors within the hospital organisation that might be essential in this transition.MethodsAn ethnographic study was conducted at a university hospital in Denmark including 135 h of participant observations of the NGDs (n = 11). Six semi-structured interviews (four group interviews and two individual interviews) were conducted (n = 21). The analysis was divided into two steps: Firstly, we carried out a “close-to-data” analysis with focus on the struggles faced by the NGDs. Secondly, we reviewed the struggles by using the theoretical lens of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to help us explore, which contextual factors within the hospital organisation that seem to have an impact on the NGDs’ experiences.ResultsThe NGDs’ struggles fall into four themes: Responsibility, local knowhow, time management and collaborators. By using the CHAT lens, we were able to identify significant contextual factors, including a physically remote placement, a missing overlap between new and experienced NGDs, a time limited introduction period, and the affiliation to several departments. These struggles and factors were highly intertwined and influenced by one another.ConclusionContextual factors within the hospital organisation may aggravate the struggles experienced by the NGDs, and this study points to possible elements that could be addressed to make the transition less challenging and overwhelming.

Moving beyond solutionism: Re-imagining placements through an activity systems lens.

Clinical placements are central to the process of preparing future health professionals for practice. Health care environments are increasingly complex and demanding with clinical placements often being perceived as a burden on busy health professionals giving rise to a service-education tension. This tension creates a situation ripe for simplistic solutionist approaches. For example, characterising the problem of clinical placements as students negatively impacting on service productivity results in a reductionist solution such as universities compensating health services for student education. Challenges faced by placement seekers and placement providers are multifaceted and complex requiring a more sophisticated understanding and response to the challenges of involving students in the workplace to prepare them for the future workforce. We argue that the health and education systems have become de-coupled. Learning and working are seen as distinct activities that are at odds with one another. Re-imagining the purposes and practices of clinical placements for the mutual benefit of patients, health services and students may fruitfully address this disconnect. We present a worked example using the conceptual and analytical tools of cultural-historical activity theory to articulate what we have learnt about this health-education disconnect. Our worked example draws on research involving a series of clinical education case studies within acute care contexts. Through the lens of cultural-historical activity theory, we highlight that solutionist approaches are entrenched in a de-coupling of health from education where the shared object of preparing the future workforce is fragmented. Successful re-coupling requires a partnership that is founded on a shared commitment to preparing the future workforce; recognises that learning and practice are inseparable; and understands that both activity systems are fluid and that collaboration to stay focused on the shared object of preparing the future workforce is complex, challenging and ongoing work.

Unbundling and higher education curriculum: a Cultural-Historical Activity Theory view of process

ABSTRACT The focus of this paper is on the contestations and dilemmas emergent in the higher education curriculum in a context of increasing processes of unbundling, digitisation and marketisation. The paper explores the notion of contestation through the theoretical lens of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory. It points to illustrative examples of this contestation from empirical data drawn from stakeholder research in South African higher education. The paper grapples with understandings of the concept of curriculum and argues how these have been shaped by – and are shaping – emergent meanings of the curriculum in an unbundling context. The argument is that these emergent meanings are a function of different explicit and tacit understandings of curriculum and what higher education offers to students. These understandings are deepened or modified by processes of unbundling. Empirical data from the research study show these understandings to be forming against the backdrop of powerful cultural and agentic forces and players.

Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a Practical Lens to Guide Classroom Action Research in the Biology Classroom

Classroom action research (CAR) represents a midpoint between teacher reflection at one end and traditional educational research at the other. CAR is a process in which a teacher identifies problems in the context of his or her own classroom and then engages in investigative methods to address the problems. Teachers sometimes shy away from CAR, due to their lack of training in research methodology, time constraints, and the fact that not all schools value or support such a scholarship of teaching and learning. I show how cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) could be used as a practical lens when engaging in CAR, and how this could help biology teachers become more reflective practitioners by using a rigorous tool to analyze data. Third-generation CHAT is explained and the reader is shown, through a practical example, how research findings could be analyzed and interpreted through a CHAT lens.

Deliberative collaboration in learning-by-designing multimodal modeling activities

ABSTRACT Collaboration is often emphasized as one of the key twenty-first century competencies to promote scientific literacies through many representational modes. However, collaborative interactions have been often characterized as a coordinated, synchronous, and symmetrical activity in terms of the same level of knowledge with little attention paid towards addressing deliberative inquiry and its eclectic nature through multimodal resources. This paper aims to revisit the notion of deliberative collaboration by revisiting Dewey’s curriculum theories. As part of a series of design-based research, this qualitative case study reports collaborative learning processes among a group of five Singapore astronomy amateurs with the facilitator in a multimodal modeling workshop. Through the lens of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, two contradictions were defined as a driving force to co-construct their conceptual understanding of distance and size of celestial objects and co-design multimodal models. This paper concludes with implications for supporting deliberative collaboration in scientific literacies.

Fulfilling Set Objectives: A Case Study of Teacher Development in Two Primary Schools in Beijing

Purpose: This study aims to reveal the recent characteristics of school-based teacher development (STD) in China since it is perceived as a key measure to achieve success in raising educational quality in the country. Design/Approach/Methods: A qualitative research approach with in-depth interviews of 18 teachers at two primary schools in Beijing was used. Findings: Through the lens of cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), it was observed that the objectives adaptation of teacher communities was made under the control of the District Education Bureau. STD provides the venue for ordinary teachers to learn, understand, and implement the teaching initiatives promoted by the district. Teacher communities at school level therefore implement continuous professional development initiatives promoted by Education Bureau teaching research officers. Originality/Value: This article argues that the administrative style of local government affected teacher community’s object, rules, and division of labor. It also contributes an indigenous interpretation of the CHAT theory.

Constraints to the implementation of inclusive teaching: a cultural historical activity theory approach

ABSTRACT Learners who experience learning challenges are at risk of not accessing equitable education opportunities in South African schools. This is despite teacher education and system reform initiatives towards more inclusive education. To discover what constrains inclusive teaching, we conducted a qualitative study at four schools in a South African city. At each research site teachers and principals were interviewed and we found teacher, school and system factors implicated in the non-implementation of inclusive teaching practices. In discussing these factors through a Cultural Historical Activity Theory lens, we identify four objects of school activity which are not aligned to inclusive education. These are a competitive ethos, rigid curriculum compliance, bell-curve thinking, and survival in the face of resource limitations. We argue that inclusive teaching will be constrained where it is not aligned with schools’ objects-of-activity. To conclude, we suggest strategies that might help to transform objects-of-activity to promote equity and inclusion.

Marketing communication in the digital age: exploring the cultural historical activity theory in examining Facebook's advertising platform

Facebook is the leading social media platform, with more than 1.8 billion users. The growth of Facebook has been a phenomenon, and the demographics of its users cut across all social strata. Businesses have taken note of Facebook's online presence and are increasingly advertising on Facebook. To understand the role of Facebook in creating the link between businesses and clients, we drew on a theoretical framework that identifies the importance of technology mediation between subjects and objects. The cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) explicates the role of technology as a mediator between different groups of users. This theory identifies five key components, or 'mediating factors', that enhance the users' ability to beneficially employ technology. The use of Facebook to reach customers was explored within the theoretical lens of CHAT. This research examined the advertising trend on Facebook over the last ten years by focusing on the reasons why it has gained popularity among firms. The study proposes that marketing professionals consider using the CHAT framework in order to understand the mediating role of social media platforms in facilitating effective marketing campaigns.

Linguistically Responsive Teaching in Preservice Teacher Education: A Review of the Literature Through the Lens of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory

This article presents an integrated systematic review of scholarship related to preparing preservice teachers (PSTs) to teach multilingual learners in U.S. schools. We drew from cultural-historical activity theory to investigate how teacher educators who focus on preparing PSTs to work with multilingual students attended to the linguistically responsive teaching (LRT) framework. We identified three distinct activity systems, each linked to specific LRT dimensions. The ways in which the components of each activity system integrated LRT have implications for both theory and practice. Specifically, our findings highlight the need for program-wide coherence in teacher preparation and for comparative analysis examining teacher education across diverse policy contexts.

E-textbook as object and mediator: interactions between instructor and student activity systems

In this paper, we discuss the activity systems of students and instructors who used an interactive e-textbook in their instructional activities. Data included instructor interviews and student journals about e-textbook use in eight university courses. Exploration of the data through a cultural-historical activity theory lens indicated that e-textbook use can be limited when students act on it merely as an object without any intentional goal. Without requirements by the instructor, the embedded tools in the e-textbook may do little to support the student activity in the system. In addition, many instructors, as well, approached the e-textbook as an object, and a number of them did not include the e-textbook in their own activity systems. Considering the e-textbook as a mediating tool to address other goals (such as completing an assignment) or to support instructional decisions by faculty through developed awareness of students’ understandings, positioned the e-textbook as a mediator of learning, rather than an object on which to act. We end our discussion pointing to the need for an expansive transformation regarding the use of e-textbooks so they may be positioned as new kinds of mediating tools for learning.

Re-Shaping the Faculty: Emergence and Development of “Permanent-Contingent” Roles through the Lens of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory

This study retrospectively examines the emergence and development of a new class of full-time non-tenure track employees in a large land grant research university in the U.S., which created the employment category in 1980. We employ cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) to explore how this class of employees became institutionalized within the university organizational structure and within the university’s consultative and decision-making processes. The study advances the understanding of how broad academic personnel strategies emerge in higher education. Given that there are few longitudinal studies examining the way personnel strategies are made in higher education, we hope that this paper will provide a useful frame of reference for developing research on institutions of higher education as work environments. By utilizing CHAT in a higher education setting, our inquiry also contributes an alternative perspective to the stream of research on organizational change in higher education.

Vocational Literacy in Mozambique: Historical Development, Current Challenges and Contradictions

The study analyses the historical development of vocational literacy in basic education and Non-Formal Vocational Education (NFVE) in Mozambique, as well as current challenges and contradictions. The theoretical lens of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) is employed in the study. Methodologically the study was executed through an analysis of oral, printed and e-resources produced by the main stakeholders and also the reflective experiences of the authors in their extensive educational work in the country. The findings reveal poorly developed vocational literacy education in schools and non-formal settings in spite of recurrent political declarations about its importance. There is a strong dependence by formal and particularly NFVE sectors on the technical and financial support provided by international organisations. Vocational literacy courses are characterized by a lack of adequate equipment and poor practice. As a consequence, theoretical or elementary forms of vocational knowledge are dominant in the courses, resulting in the dissatisfaction of both learners and educators. Vocational literacy development proved to be a complex field that faces many challenges and is characterised by diverse internal contradictions.

Professional learning through the collaborative design of problem-solving lessons

This article analyses lesson study as a mode of professional learning, focused on the development of mathematical problem solving processes, using the lens of cultural-historical activity theory. In particular, we draw attention to two activity systems, the classroom system and the lesson-study system, and the importance of making artefacts instrumental in both. We conceptualise the lesson plan as a boundary object and use this to illustrate how professional learning takes place through the introduction of carefully designed artefacts that draw on teachers’ professional knowledge of potential student approaches, and to the nature of progression in problem-solving processes. We identify the roles of instrumentalisation and instrumentation in supporting professional learning as these artefacts are prepared for use before a lesson and as they are again used as catalysts for reflection in post-lesson discussions. These artefacts are seen to effectively facilitate the socially situated learning of all participants. We conclude that the design of artefacts as boundary objects that support teaching and professional learning in their respective activity systems may be fundamental to the success of lesson study as a collaborative venture.

PWE-407 Scottish surgical boot camp: an induction to a community of practice

<h3>Introduction</h3> A reduction in hours of “apprentice style” training, has led to increased interest in alternative pedagogic paradigms. Intensive “Boot Camps” have been found to accelerate the acquisition of key surgical skills.¹A 4 day residential Scottish Surgical Boot Camp in the Inverness Clinical Skills Centre is now adopted by 2 Royal Colleges and recommended for 1^styear Core Surgical Trainees in Scotland. It is simulation-rich and includes technical and non-technical skills, e.g. wet labs, simulated ward rounds, etc. Evaluation of other Boot Camp models have been from the quantitative perspective of efficacy of training,²usually limited to Kirkpatrick levels 1 and 2. We take a qualitative perspective to explore the development and delivery of this Boot Camp. <h3>Method</h3> Grounded in social constructivism and consistent with the theoretical lens of cultural-historical activity theory,³we used a rapid ethnographic approach⁴involving observations, semi-structured formal interviews with faculty and field interviews with students and faculty to understand the relationships and processes of the SSBC. <h3>Results</h3> Kirkpatrick level one feedback was positive. Further, our empirical data showed the important factors shaping the design, aims, objectives, development and positioning of SSBC within national training programmes, and a surgical community of practice. Interviews with faculty provided a picture of how the content of SSBC had changed over time in response to the trainee needs, curricular changes and growing faculty expertise. Within the SSBC, there were clear rules and expectations, division of labour, and social and skills-focused learning objectives. <h3>Conclusion</h3> This theory-grounded case study gives a unique insight into the complexity of interacting influences shaping a Boot Camp, which we believe enables a better description and understanding of the SSBC. Further data illustrating the usefulness of CHAT as a means of developing and evaluating this educational activity will be presented on the day. <h3>Disclosure of interest</h3> None Declared. <h3>References</h3> Cohen ER, Barsuk JH, Moazed F, Caprio T, Didwania A, McGaghie WC. Making July Safer: Simulation-Based Mastery Learning During Intern Boot Camp. Acad Med. 2013;88:233–239 Parent RJ, Plerhoples TA, Long EE, <i>et al</i>. Early, intermediate, and late effects of a surgical skills “Boot Camp” on an objective structured assessment of technical skills: a randomized controlled study. J Am Coll Surg. 2010;210: 984–989 Engestrom Y, Miettinen R, Punamaki R. Activity Theory and Individual and Social Transformation. Perspectives on Activity Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1999 Savage J. Ethnography and healthcare. BMJ 2000;321:1400