Cultural Historical Activity Theory Research Articles

Bridging the theory-practice divide: Reflections of school-based student teachers

Background: Teacher education programmes often prioritise theory over practical experience, leaving students struggling to connect classroom learning with real-world application. Addressing this gap, a proposed model integrates online coursework with mentored practice-based experiences through full-time placements in selected schools.Aim: The study delves into the experiences of first-year school-based student teachers (SBST) enrolled in a full-time undergraduate online programme aimed at bridging the theory-practice divide.Setting: First-year student teachers in the 2021 and 2022 cohorts (N = 30) placed full time in selected schools participated in the study.Methods: Using an interpretive qualitative research design, data were collected via focus group interviews with first-year student cohorts. Data was analysed using the cultural-historical activity theory combined with the constant comparative method.Results: Two primary findings emerged. Firstly, SBSTs faced difficulties balancing academic requirements between the school and the programme. Secondly, the varying degrees of support from stakeholders within both the programme and school environment influenced the quality and meaningfulness of SBSTs’ learning experiences.Conclusion: The convergence of university and school activity systems revealed tensions and contradictions yet also presented opportunities for expanded learning when coursework and classroom practices aligned. Despite criticisms of universities being overly theoretical, the research indicates that SBSTs prioritise practical experience in school settings, potentially overshadowing the significance of theoretical knowledge.Contribution: This study contributes to knowledge of the challenges faced by student teachers and highlights the need to address these contradictions through open dialogue within teacher education programmes.

Cultural Historical Activity Theory: A Conceptual Framework for Analysing Post- Method Pedagogy

Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) serves as an effective theoretical framework for analysing post-method pedagogy, providing valuable insights into the complexities of educational practices. This framework integrates social, cultural, and historical contexts, allowing for a comprehensive perspective that examines patterns influencing educational processes, cognitive development, and equitable education. At the heart of CHAT is the concept of expansive learning, which emphasises the continuous improvement and evolution of teaching methods over time. This approach advocates for adaptive and innovative practices that respond to the dynamic needs of learners and the ever-changing educational environment. By incorporating CHAT into post-method pedagogy, educators can significantly enhance their teaching practices, fostering more democratic, versatile, and effective methods that engage all students. This paper delves into the impact of CHAT on education, tracing the foundational narrative of its development through the contributions of three generations of influential scholars, from Lev Vygotsky to Yrjö Engeström. CHAT distinguishes itself by moving beyond mere rote cognitive accumulation, offering a conceptual toolkit for refining, and leveling pedagogical practices. Key elements of CHAT include the division of labour, which defines roles within the teaching and learning process, and mediating means, which involves the tools and resources utilised in learning. The central theme of expansive learning underscores the ongoing improvement of teaching methods, illustrating CHAT's practical application in English language instruction. By fostering inclusive learning environments, CHAT effectively addresses real challenges faced today in education. For educators seeking to strengthen their teaching methods, adopting CHAT offers a transformative pathway which is accessible to everyday teachers striving for positive change in their instructional practices. Integrating CHAT dynamics into teaching holds significant promise for those committed to continuous improvement in the field of education.

Advancing a cultural-historical activity perspective in a psychodynamic-oriented psychotherapy training programme

South Africa cannot ignore the far-reaching influence of its colonial and apartheid history on the psychological functioning of its people. Psychotherapy as a fundamental psychological intervention approach cannot ignore its evolving history as the architect of the social psyche and of an individual’s psychological functioning. With regards to psychodynamic psychotherapy, the literature has lamented this therapeutic approach’s lack of consideration of the impact of the colonial and apartheid historical trauma on the prevailing sociocultural and mental health challenges. The crux of this article is to address this epistemological lacuna, by arguing for the integration of psychodynamic theory with cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) for application in therapeutic processes. The article further posits that this integration needs to be introduced in training programmes for student psychotherapists who, as in the case of South Africa, are themselves the descendants of the generation that was exposed to historical trauma of colonialism and apartheid and are living with latent transgenerational trauma. To create a suitable foundation for the integration of psychodynamic theory and CHAT in psychotherapeutic practice, there is a need to apply critical pedagogical strategies in the training programmes of psychotherapists. Thus, this article further highlights the possibilities of employing critical pedagogical principles that incorporate ontological reflection, pedagogic discomfort, troubled knowledges, mutual vulnerability, strategic empathy, and compassion.

Localisation of content and language integrated learning in China: tensions in teacher professional development

ABSTRACT Unlocking the potential of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in China’s higher education landscape has magnified the demand for teacher professional development. Beyond just implementation, teachers are tasked with localising CLIL to fit China’s unique educational context. Yet, the professional needs of Chinese CLIL teachers remain largely unexplored. Through an interpretivist lens, this study delves into the tensions faced by these educators and unveils their pressing needs. Guided by the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, our research unveils a landscape marked by a scarcity of professional development opportunities. We dissect the findings into pivotal areas: hurdles in accessing essential tools, forging collaborations with institutional and academic partners, navigating conflicting self-expectations and institutional demands, and juggling myriad roles within educational institutions. This inquiry casts a spotlight on the intricate world of professional development for Chinese CLIL teachers, advocating for targeted solutions to address their needs.

Twenty-five years of change laboratories in schools: a critical and formative review

ABSTRACT Transformation, learning and research come together in educational action research. Change Laboratories (CLs) are a distinctive approach to action research grounded in Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). CLs seek to go beyond technical change, oriented instead to systemic and ideologically driven transformation. However, there have been few reviews of CL research, none focused on education. This paper reports a review of 55 studies using CLs or sibling approaches involving schools. It finds that CLs have been applied to diverse problems including pedagogical practice development, initial teacher education and collaboration across school boundaries. Wider issues of equity, inclusion and justice are present but not ubiquitous in this work. Theoretical references focus on expansive learning, activity systems and double stimulation, with growing use of wider concepts from within and beyond CHAT, including Southern and Indigenous epistemologies. Critical reflection of these findings informs seven fronts for future development in CLs to strengthen their contribution to educational action research: participation, beyond-technical change, enduring change, epistemic justice, addressing grand challenges, resistance, and reporting.

(Re)constructing and (re)negotiating identities: A case study of postsecondary language teachers and social justice education

AbstractThis study explores the identity formation of two postsecondary language teachers and course coordinators—one in German and one in French—as they created intermediate‐level, content‐based social justice curricular units for a multiyear project. Using a multiple‐case‐study methodology and cultural–historical activity theory, this qualitative investigation answers the following research question: How do experienced postsecondary language teachers (re)construct and (re)negotiate their identities while developing social justice teaching materials? Findings, based on multicycle descriptive coding, reveal that participants’ past experiences, personal values, feelings of self‐doubt, and positionality as content‐based language teachers influenced their language teacher identity, as did tensions within and across three activity systems: the curriculum development project, classroom teaching, and the coordination of multisection courses. These findings have important implications for teacher professional development and community building related to social justice in language education.

The Mindful Interactions (MI) tool: promoting student mental health in tertiary education

This conceptual paper introduces the Mindful Interactions (MI) tool designed to enable university teaching academics to promote student mental health and in so doing, impact positively on academic outcomes. The MI tool is comprised of three elements: understandings to provide theoretical guidance which inform pedagogy, practices to provide strategies for translating theory into practice, and guiding principles which provide a catalyst for critical reflexion, challenge existing beliefs, and create a shared vision from which to work. Relationships are at its core, acknowledging that university students report teacher-student relationships as key to their mental health. Issues related to university student mental health, of which psychological distress is an important component, have been well documented and exacerbated since the onset of COVID-19, increasing demands on universities to meet student mental health needs. It is contended in this paper that understanding the causes of psychological distress, particularly in relation to Adverse Childhood Experiences, offers an alternative lens through which to view student mental health. This lens suggests additional ways of thinking about how university teaching academics and universities might proactively respond to student mental health needs. Cultural Historical Activity Theory informed the theoretical framework for the study, whilst two ‘approaches’ (the ‘Three Pillars of Trauma-informed Care’ and ‘Trust Based Relational Intervention’) along with associated trauma literature underpinned the development of the MI tool.

Bridging School and Practice? Barriers to the Integration of 'Boundary Objects' for Learning and Assessment in Clinical Nursing Education.

In clinical health professions education, portfolios, assignments and assessment standards are used to enhance learning. When these tools fulfill a bridging function between school and practice, they can be considered 'boundary objects'. In the clinical setting, these tools may be experienced as time-consuming and lacking value. This study aimed to investigate the barriers to the integration of boundary objects for learning and assessment from a Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) perspective in clinical nursing education. Nineteen interviews and five observations were conducted with team leads, clinical educators, supervisors, students, and teachers to obtain insight into intentions and use of boundary objects for learning and assessment. Boundary objects (assessment standards, assignments, feedback/reflection/patient care/development plan templates) were collected. The data collection and thematic analysis were guided by CHAT. Barriers to the integration of boundary objects included: a) conflicting requirements in clinical competency monitoring and assessment, b) different application of analytical skills, and c) incomplete integration of boundary objects for self-regulated learning into supervision practice. These barriers were amplified by the simultaneous use of boundary objects for learning and assessment. Underlying contradictions included different objectives between school and practice, and tensions between the distribution of labor in the clinical setting and school's rules. School and practice have both convergent and divergent priorities around students' clinical learning. Boundary objects can promote continuity in learning and increase students' understanding of clinical practice. However, effective integration requires for flexible rules that allow for collaborative learning around patient care.

Crossing Between Clinical Work and Scholarly Publishing: Early-Career Neurosurgeons as Clinician-Researchers

Medical professionals who assume multiple roles as clinicians and researchers are commonly found in hospitals worldwide. Likewise, in many Chinese hospitals, particularly among early-career medical professionals with MD and PhD degrees, active engagement in both clinical practice and scientific research is expected. In the current ethnographic study, the cultural-historical activity theory is used to explore how three early-career neurosurgeons at a tier-one northern Chinese hospital conduct and write research for publishing in Science Citation Index (SCI)-indexed journals in addition to handling their heavy clinical workload. Drawing on multiple sources of qualitative data, including semi-structured interviews, two-week naturalistic observations, field notes, photographs, and daily activity logs with three neurosurgeons, the study findings highlight Chinese neurosurgeons conduct and write up their research using patient data and collaborating with laboratories while seeking academic language editing and peer feedback. Ethical considerations of clinician-researchers’ scholarly publishing process, implications for researching medical professionals’ boundary crossings, and future research directions are also discussed.

K-nearest neighbor based on exploratory data analysis of curriculum models of Chinese early childhood education

This research examines the unique Chinese approaches to implementing the Early Childhood Curriculum (ECC) in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, drawing on School-based Curriculum Development (SBCD) studies. A total of 200 administrators and teachers were interviewed in total, and transcripts from those interviews were examined, cross-checked, and assessed using document analysis and classroom observation. Through interviews that have been conducted by administrators and teachers analyzed by document analysis and classroom observation, the influence of Chinese culture on ECC implementation is explored using the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). An exploratory, inferential, and descriptive statistical approach evaluates the sociocultural mechanism of ECC in Chinese society. The proposed framework utilizes K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) regression analysis to illustrate how social development leads to cultural fusion and conflicts. The overall sociocultural framework promotes cultural growth and inheritance in China's early childhood education settings.

Using formative interventions to study emerging technologies in construction practices: the case of the Ground Penetrating Radar

The potential impact of emerging technologies is challenging for construction management researchers to study, as these technologies have yet to become embedded in current organisational practices. Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) offers a method called formative interventions that may assist in this challenge. However, existing formative intervention methods are not adequately tailored to the study of emerging technologies, necessitating a more immersive engagement of the researcher-interventionist. This article proposes a renewed participatory take on the role of the researcher-interventionist and outlines the actions that researchers can undertake to investigate the future impacts of emerging technology. Specifically, we describe the interventionist role through a study of utility detection activities in which we intervened with emerging Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technology at twelve construction sites. We analysed our role through an inductive coding approach using interviews and field visit data. Our findings reveal five interventionist action types for intervention studies with emerging technology. These include shaping conditions, exposing tensions, supporting problem resolution, operating tools, and facilitating reflection. The action types prompted subjects to reevaluate elements of the activity system and helped describe three potential future activity systems that integrated GPR as a new tool. These findings demonstrate that a participatory take on formative interventions provides a potent means to unveil possible activity systems incorporating emerging technologies. We contribute five formal intervention action types to the literature that equip interventionist researchers with methodological tools to use CHAT in a practice-based study of emerging technologies on construction sites.

Supporting transformative agency in initial teacher education: A Change Laboratory in China

Studies of teacher agency need analytical frameworks with processual and collective perspectives in support of the transformation of educational institutions and practitioners. The framework of transformative agency by double stimulation (TADS) from cultural-historical activity theory is used as a lens to inquire how a Change Laboratory in initial teacher education in China supported teacher agency. Our analysis traces the occurrence of the TADS phases during six online Change Laboratory sessions and the distribution of these phases among 13 participants and two researchers, moving toward a major transformation of the institutional strategies for mentoring school placement. Our findings verify the usability of the TADS model for capturing transformative teacher agency as a stepwise process. The analysis shows the nonlinear character of the TADS process, requiring adaptation to context-specific contingencies. The distribution of TADS phases among the participants and researchers reveals the collective and relational nature of teacher agency in transformation efforts.

Exploring Chinese kindergarten teachers’ identities and emotions: A sociocultural perspective

This study explores the identities and emotions of 12 Chinese kindergarten teachers from Shenzhen and Shanghai. Using the cultural–historical activity theory (CHAT) framework, we examined how daily tensions shape teachers' identities and emotions. An activity systems analysis identified five emotion-related identities that teachers frequently perceived. The study highlights tensions arising from misaligned objectives, power dynamics, and teacher identity. It suggests that teachers' emotions reflect their notions of self regarding how they believe they should be, act, and understand. The study has implications for teacher education and development, illustrating the complex interplay between teachers’ identities, emotions, and sociocultural contexts.

Understanding physics teachers’ professional identity: an activity theory perspective

ABSTRACT Educational researchers have been interested in studying teachers’ professional identity to understand this dynamic and multifaceted construct within personal and professional processes through different experiences. In this study, we designed a qualitative case study with Cultural–Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to examine physics teachers’ professional identity in Turkey. The study aimed to explore the elements of activity systems: teachers’ experiences, community relations, tools, resources, rules, division of labour, and teaching practices. Data sources were interviews, classroom observations and documents, which were analysed by constant comparative method. The results showed that teachers recognised the significance of student-centered instruction, but they often had limitations in terms of resources and exam-based education that led them to adopt traditional instruction. The findings emphasised the need for systemic reforms to balance instructional objectives with teaching realities, supply resources, and make the connection between teacher preparation and classroom enactment. The research results support constructivist epistemology and suggest that the physics education community needs to improve the quality of physics education in Turkey and globally.

A meeting place for meaningful collaboration – student teachers’ experiences and learning

ABSTRACT Background Internationally, teacher education usually involves close school-university cooperation. In Norway, such collaboration includes enabling student teachers to develop into researching teachers. In this article, our interest lies in how the Change Laboratory (CL), a form of participatory workshop, can lay the foundation for three-way collaboration between student teachers, teacher educators, and practice teachers, in terms of resolving practice issues and facilitating student teachers’ research planning. Purpose The study, contextualised within cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), sought to better understand student teachers’ experiences and learning gleaned from collaboration in the CL. Method Eight student teachers participated in the research, which was carried out over a four-year teacher education research and development project involving one university and one primary school. During this time, the student teachers met in the CL with the teacher educators from the university, and the practice teachers, who were working as mentors in the training schools. The data collected, comprising presentations and dialogues from the CL sessions, were analysed qualitatively. Findings According to the analysis, the student teachers thought that their CL experiences had supported them along the trajectory of becoming reflective, professionally oriented practitioners. They felt that, through participatory meetings with the teacher educators and practice teachers, they had developed in-depth subject knowledge; learned to collaborate; learned about school development; and learned how to be well prepared for the profession they were entering. In addition, they considered whether the project could be expanded to the entire teacher education system. Conclusions The findings draw broader attention to the role of participatory meeting places in creating a community of trust, and their potential to support teachers’ learning at crucial stages of their professional journeys, from early career phases and beyond.

Understanding the onto-semiotic approach in mathematics education through the lens of the cultural historical activity theory

AbstractResearch in mathematics education can be understood as a system of activities addressing the basic and applied problems related to teaching and learning of mathematics. Such a system includes the activities of foundation, planning, implementation, evaluation of mathematics instruction, and teacher professional development, which are supported by different theories. This diversity of theories raises interest in their comparison, coordination, and possible integration. The paper aims to present a case of application of the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), in its 3rd and 4th generation versions, to analyze the emergence of the Onto-semiotic Approach to mathematical knowledge and instruction as a theoretical framework that addresses the study of the five partial activities mentioned above. This use of the CHAT can be useful in studies on theory articulation by focusing not only on the subjects, the object, and the instruments but also on the community context, the ecological-normative environment in which these activities take place, and the dilemmas or contradictions between theories.

Perezhivanie-agency dialectic: Examining Vietnamese EFL educators’ experiences and negotiation of dramatic classroom events

Tensions and conflicts are common in teachers' everyday professional lives, yet research on how these experiences influence pedagogical decisions and teacher agency remains limited. This study employs a broad sociocultural perspective, integrating cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) and Vygotsky's concept of perezhivanie, to examine how two Vietnamese English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) educators responded agentively to emotionally charged events. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and reflective journals, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The findings of the study illustrate that mismatches between educators' expectations and students' behaviors not only underpin educators' negative emotions and cognitive responses but also catalyze a cycle of reflection, which subsequently leads to modifications in teaching practices and strengthens educators' agency. This study underscores the complex interplay between teachers' experiences of dramatic events and their agency, highlighting the importance of equipping educators with the necessary knowledge and skills to constructively manage difficult emotions and enhance their problem-solving capabilities. This study exemplifies a critical integration through the development of Integrative Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (iCHAT), which synergistically combines elements of CHAT and Vygotsky's perezhivanie, providing a robust framework to investigate a range of complex phenomena beyond teacher agency in diverse educational and cultural contexts.

New roles for science teachers: A cultural-historical activity theory intervention to support education for health, wellbeing, and citizenship

For formal education to play a significant role in efforts for sustainable development, teachers must assume new roles, transform their beliefs about the essence of teaching and learning, and implement innovative pedagogies. Through a multiple-case study methodology, three patterns of shifts were identified in the beliefs of twelve high-school biology teachers who participated in a cultural-historical activity theory intervention aimed at supporting their transformative agency. These patterns corresponded with the tensions the teachers experienced and the mediating tools appropriated. These results highlight the role of contradictions and mediating tools when aiming for educational reforms to support health, well-being, and citizenship.

Using cultural-historical activity theory to describe a university-wide blended learning initiative

Institution-wide evaluations of Blended Learning implementations are rare. Even less common are evaluations that report the sociocultural context of the implementation. Recently, an Australian university in the western region of Victoria embarked on an initiative to blend all course units over a three-year period. Stemming from a rigorous analysis of reporting documents and participantresearcher observations, an attempt has been made to describe the sociocultural context of this blended learning initiative through the lens of Engestrom’s Cultural-historical Activity Theory (CHAT). This description, along with the challenges surfaced will serve as a precursor to the university-wide impact evaluation of this blended learning initiative. The objective of the analysis was to reify the complex processes, intricate relationships and dynamic environmental elements, which tend not to be captured by impact evaluations. Understanding what exactly is going on will enable the University to situate evaluation findings in the context of factors that might have helped or hampered the achievement of outcomes, and remediate process-related problems in a timely manner. Amidst the flurry of focused and coordinated blended learning activities, eight key process-related challenges emerged: Staff Capacity, Engagement, Deployment, Workload, Technological Issues, Project Management, Communication and Unit Stability. These challenges could potentially make or break ‘the Blend’ if not adequately addressed. This paper highlights the value of process evaluations for online and blended learning implementations and argues for such evaluations to be grounded in ontological realities reflected on accountability reports and observational data.

Reading in Relation: Youth Mentors and Adults Co-Constructing Teaching and Learning in a High School Literacy Classroom

Most schools operate as hierarchical structures, where adult stakeholders largely dictate what counts as knowledge and how to teach it. While previous scholarship has documented the promise of youth-led initiatives to trouble hierarchical structures, these explorations tend to occur outside of schools and do not typically account for the kinds of changes in relations between youth and adults necessary to disrupt hierarchical structures from within. Using third-generation cultural-historical activity theory as our theoretical framework, in this study we explore the shifts in subject-subject relations that emerged as high school youth literacy mentors, their teacher, and university researchers participated in iterative processes of co-configuration to open up new possibilities for literacy learning at their public school. We examine how youth mentors and adults co-designed and co-taught the Literacy Mentorship Class (LMC) while increasingly engaging contradictions as double binds within the Literacy Mentorship Debrief (LMD). We trace how evolving subject-subject relations in the LMD contributed to shifts in divisions of labor, rules, objects, and mediating artifacts in and beyond the LMC. Ultimately, we propose debriefs as a set of reflective practices to facilitate future possibilities for co-configuration among youth and adults that can be responsive to the particularities of any school community.