Cultural Historical Activity Theory Research Articles

Learning mathematics and its relevance through a digital storytelling assessment task at university

Storytelling is a valuable form of human expression that allows audience members to connect their own experiences with the narrative. As a pedagogical tool, storytelling has been explored mainly in primary school education but rarely in higher education. However, its potential for assisting students in learning mathematics and the societal benefits that its application can bring has been largely overlooked. Using Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to analyse university students’ experiences of a digital storytelling assessment task, we explore students’ perception of their learning and the relevance they ascribed to mathematics. We conclude that it is vital that students can reconcile why mathematics is important for society and how that affects them in their personal lives. We should also make sure that we equip students with valuable skills, such as how to work effectively in a group, which can give them more agency in shaping their learning experience.

Including English learners in multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) in reading: A CHAT-informed mixed methods investigation

Effective inclusion of English Learners (ELs) in multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) is necessary for this growing subset of students to access the intended outcomes of MTSS, specifically improved academic outcomes. Facilitating MTSS systems that are appropriately responsive to the heterogeneous needs of ELs may be particularly challenging. In the current study, Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) guided survey and interview data collection and analysis of elementary teachers’ current experiences with including ELs in MTSS for reading. Quantitative findings indicated inclusive practices were common and that teacher perceptions about including ELs in MTSS were generally positive. Qualitative findings identified several sources of tension; these tensions are described and used to guide the identification of changes that have the potential for further improving MTSS for ELs.

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.

Occupational risk prevention in hospitals based on the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory.

Hospital managers should target occupational risks and harm prevention since this can contribute to the quality of life at work and patient safety. This article aims to elucidate the activity of prevention of occupational risks and injuries in the hospital setting based on analysis of historical and empirical contradictions of the activity system. An exploratory qualitative study grounded in the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory was conducted at a university hospital in the state of São Paulo. Data were collected between September 2021 and January 2022 via individual semi-structured interviews of 9 professionals from the Occupational Health and Safety services and of five hospital managers, involving 20 hours of field observation and document analysis. Despite the expansion of the object of prevention activity, the other elements of the activity system did not adapt to the new demands, causing incompatibilities and contradictions that compromised the attainment of the expected outcomes. The main response actions observed were centered on complying with regulatory items, such as team composition, medical examinations and others, that contribute little toward promoting occupational health and safety.

Can Implementing New Services Organization Models to Better Meet the Needs of Young People Bring About Practice Changes? Analysis of an Experiment in Québec.

The research question addressed in this article is: Can implementing new services organization models to better meet the needs of young people bring about practice changes? More precisely, we examine the effects of a new model called Aire Ouverte (AO) which is implemented gradually across Quebec since 2019. This new model involves public sector and community organizations. To grasp practices' change, we use cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) and employ a qualitative approach. Beyond a precise description of work activities, we gained an inside view of how the actors involved represented their practice and context. Our results show that practice changes seen by actors are in line with the object of the intervention, that is, responding rapidly to the expressed needs of young people. The development of new tools, flexible functioning, strengthening of interprofessional and intersectoral collaboration, involvement of young people in decision-making, all should contribute to improving response to their needs. This being said, a critical look at practice changes reveals a challenge in aligning the design and objective of AO with the needs of some young people. We noted also a poor alignment of effective collaborative practices between levels of care and the practices sought from intersectoral collaboration.

Research on Interdisciplinary Thematic Learning—A Perspective Based on Cultural-Historical Activity Theory

Research on Interdisciplinary Thematic Learning—A Perspective Based on Cultural-Historical Activity Theory

Prevenção de riscos e agravos à saúde dos trabalhadores hospitalares à luz da Teoria da Atividade Histórico-Cultural

Abstract Hospital managers should target occupational risks and harm prevention since this can contribute to the quality of life at work and patient safety. This article aims to elucidate the activity of prevention of occupational risks and injuries in the hospital setting based on analysis of historical and empirical contradictions of the activity system. An exploratory qualitative study grounded in the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory was conducted at a university hospital in the state of São Paulo. Data were collected between September 2021 and January 2022 via individual semi-structured interviews of 9 professionals from the Occupational Health and Safety services and of five hospital managers, involving 20 hours of field observation and document analysis. Despite the expansion of the object of prevention activity, the other elements of the activity system did not adapt to the new demands, causing incompatibilities and contradictions that compromised the attainment of the expected outcomes. The main response actions observed were centered on complying with regulatory items, such as team composition, medical examinations and others, that contribute little toward promoting occupational health and safety.

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.

A knowledge-based view on value co-creation: a cultural-historical activity theory perspective on the development of supplier-customer interactions

A knowledge-based view on value co-creation: a cultural-historical activity theory perspective on the development of supplier-customer interactions

A knowledge-based view on value co-creation: a cultural-historical activity theory perspective on the development of supplier-customer interactions

A knowledge-based view on value co-creation: a cultural-historical activity theory perspective on the development of supplier-customer interactions

Синдромы личности в свете исторического кризиса в психологии, позиция культурно-исторической теории деятельности

<p>Following the cultural-historical activity theory guidelines, this study investigates the potential consistency between scientific methodologies and personality syndromes. By minding not falling into rough simplification and misleading generalization, our methodological assumption suggests a line of historical similarity worthy of being investigated deeply in future studies. The study looks into the consistency in the historical development of the methodologies representing ‘the symptoms’ of psychology as a science living through its historical crisis, on one hand, and the personality syndromes representing the ‘implicit methodologies’ of individuals, on the other. Such an approach allows one to draw more on personality syndromes, their taxonomy, and their root, in addition to the potential predictions of their destiny. A crucial methodological consideration that allows such dependency is that science is a <em>special </em>form (highly abstract and generalized) of creative activity sharing a similar nature to the daily ordinary creative activity of personality. So, science might represent an early historically elaborated version of the ordinary-daily form of activity structure, which allows us to hypothesize that personality syndromes, in their own characteristics, might share the developmental tendency of the noted methodologies rooted in the subjective-objective epistemological rupture as a ground of the historical crisis.</p>

Understanding tertiary EFL teacher learning and identity development: a cultural-historical activity theory perspective

Though current scholarship has conducted much research on teacher learning and teacher identity respectively, there are limited empirical studies examining the combination of these two constructs. This study, drawing upon cultural-historical activity theory, aims at exploring two tertiary EFL teachers’ specific learning processes and how they develop their identities through learning. Data sources include observations, interviews, informal communications and artifacts concerning the two participants’ learning and identity constructions. The findings reveal that teacher learning is an expansive learning process that starts with triggering events, and reflection permeates all the phases of teachers’ expansive learning. Besides, teacher learning is driven by multiple contradictions. Faced with these contradictions, teachers exert their agency, negotiate with significant others and cross various boundaries in their learning activities, which eventually promotes their identity development. The findings provide implications for further explorations of teacher learning and teacher identity.
 FUNDING INFORMATION. This work was supported by the [Youth Fund for Humanities and Social Sciences Research of the Ministry of Education] under Grant [22YJC740041]; [General Project of Philosophy and Social Science Research in Colleges and Universities] under Grant [2022SJYB2210]; [Chinese Scholarship Council] under Grant [202208320214]; and [Higher Education Reform Research Project of Jiangsu University] under Grant [2021JGYB081].

Analysis and Dissolution of Potential Contradictions in Thematic Lessons from a Cultural-Historical Activity Theory Perspective

Thematic learning features sustain exploratory activities focused on a selected theme, which contributes to developing students’ core competencies, including problem solving, collaboration, and communication skills, supporting sustainable development in learning. For teachers and students, this emerging pedagogical approach may encounter various contradictions in the classroom activity system. Grounded in a cultural-historical activity theory perspective, this study examined the potential contradictions in an activity system in the context of thematic learning, as well as possible strategies for dissolving those potential contradictions and their effectiveness through a case study. Interviews with an experienced teacher were conducted to acquire information about potential contradictions, and the interview results suggested that these contradictions were perceived as potentially occurring between the students, tools, and objects. According to that information, solutions were proposed to dissolve those potential contradictions, including setting moderate learning objects, creating a sustainable exploratory learning environment, scaffolding necessary knowledge, and situating students in an interactive, communicative, and cooperative classroom environment. Finally, the dissolution of those contradictions was examined through classroom observations, with the results showing that students were able to apply their knowledge accurately and fluently to solve the problems. The contribution of this study involves adopting cultural-historical activity theory as guidance to dissolve the contradictions in classroom teaching, which expands the application of this theory compared to previous studies that focused more on the contradictions between researchers and teachers during a lesson study. This innovative application will inspire teachers to adopt this theory routinely to improve teaching, including designing instructional sequences and question chains that support students’ sustained exploration.

Eligibility Determinations for Speech and Language Services in U.S. Public Schools: Experiences and Tensions.

The purpose of this study was to examine school speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) experiences regarding students' eligibility for services in public schools within the United States. Fifteen school SLPs participated in online focus groups to examine the complex nature of SLPs' participation within decision-making teams and describe practice experiences in U.S. schools. SLPs worked in one to 10+ schools serving students from pre-K through 12th grade. Data were analyzed using Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT; Engeström, 2015). School SLPs' practice is impacted by rules, community, and division of labor in schools. Participants discussed the following: culture of the work setting, interaction between team members, desire to assist families and children, knowledge of regulations, evaluation practices, and the impact of poverty, and cultural and linguistic differences. Nine major tensions were identified: need for greater SLP empowerment and advocacy, documentation of educational impact, complexities of students learning English as an additional language, concerns about evaluation data for decision making, SLPs' concerns regarding outcomes of eligibility decision making, overuse of speech-language impairment for students who do not qualify, parents' involvement in decision making, disagreement between team members, and administrations' adherence to rules. Within the schools, the CHAT framework was useful to identify tensions and opportunities for change at the individual and institutional levels, impacting team decision making for eligibility, SLPs' provision of services, and student outcomes. Acknowledgment of tensions and opportunities for change regarding students' eligibility for services may guide public policy; preservice training; and individual, local, and national advocacy.

A Remedy to the Unfair Use of AI in Educational Settings

This paper addresses concerns related to the ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on human values, with a particular focus on fair outcomes. Existing design frameworks and regulations for ensuring fairness in AI are too general and impractical. Instead, we advocate for understanding fairness as situated in practice, shaped by practitioners’ values, allowing stakeholders control in the situation. To accomplish this, the paper contributes by conceptually exploring a potential synergy by combining Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and Meta-Design. By doing so, human activities can be transformed to deal with challenges, in this case, those emerging from adaptive AI tools. While professional software developers are essential for making significant changes to the tool and providing solutions, users’ involvement is equally important. Users are domain experts when it comes to determining practical solutions and aligning structures with their work practices. CHAT contributes through its emphasis on context, history, and mediation by tools. This enables a critical analysis of activity systems, helping to reveal underlying contradictions and identify areas where improvements or innovations are necessary. Meta-Design provides design concepts and perspectives that aim to empower participants, allowing them to actively shape the processes of tool design to align with their specific local needs and evolving conceptions of fairness in use-time. This offers an approach to empowering people and promoting more fair AI design.

Using network visualizations to engage elementary students in locally relevant data literacy

PurposeThis study aims to explore how network visualization provides opportunities for learners to explore data literacy concepts using locally and personally relevant data.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers designed six locally relevant network visualization activities to support students’ data reasoning practices toward understanding aggregate patterns in data. Cultural historical activity theory (Engeström, 1999) guides the analysis to identify how network visualization activities mediate students’ emerging understanding of aggregate data sets.FindingsPre/posttest findings indicate that this implementation positively impacted students’ understanding of network visualization concepts, as they were able to identify and interpret key relationships from novel networks. Interaction analysis (Jordan and Henderson, 1995) of video data revealed nuances of how activities mediated students’ improved ability to interpret network data. Some challenges noted in other studies, such as students’ tendency to focus on familiar concepts, are also noted as teachers supported conversations to help students move beyond them.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study the authors are aware of that supported elementary students in exploring data literacy through network visualization. The authors discuss how network visualizations and locally/personally meaningful data provide opportunities for learning data literacy concepts across the curriculum.

Power relations within division of labor – the key to empowering learners from marginalized backgrounds in mathematics classrooms

ABSTRACTBringing Bourdieu and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) together, I present, here, a methodology for pedagogic interventions that are developmental for non-dominant learners. Drawing on a Year 8 mathematics classroom (UK), I demonstrate how learners’ positioning, and position-takings in the division of labor of a teaching-learning activity (following CHAT) are mediated by objective power relations that perpetuate an inequitable educational system (following Bourdieu). Here, teachers recognizing and valuing learners’ non-dominant forms of capital, and peer relations is key to non-dominant learners’ enactment of agency and empowerment of their voices, and this can create opportunities of resistance, development, and change.

Identities in motion – Boundary-crossing learning from an intrapersonal perspective

This paper investigates how learning unfolds in poly-contextual settings. In work-related learning, boundaries between contexts have been viewed as learning resources. From the multilevel approach suggested by Akkerman and Bruining (2016), we focus on the intrapersonal level, on individuals as units of analysis. We propose an intrapersonal methodology and demonstrate it with an empirical study based on individual interviews. We combine cultural-historical activity theory understanding of an individual with Mariann Märtsin's ideas of identity construction and identity as subjective sense through multivoiced negotiations of meaning at the boundaries within the self. Our analysis demonstrates how the interviewees offered examples of identity construction that show how they rendered their being meaningful in the world in all its diversity without losing the unity of the self. Situationally dominant senses opened fields of meaning potentials with mediating semiotic devices at the boundary between the personal and the professional. The analysis points to some generalizability of sensemaking as a generic process that always operates in unique forms. Our findings suggest that exploring subjectivity from the perspective of sensemaking may contribute to research on work-related learning by addressing an object of sense making which is dialogically comprised with hybridity, multiplicity, and complexity.

‘I feel like the Wicked Witch’: Identifying tensions between school readiness policy and teacher beliefs, knowledge and practice in Early Childhood Education

AbstractThis paper critically examines the tensions arising between Reception teachers' professional beliefs and knowledge, and the school readiness agenda in England. It scrutinises how the increasing academic expectations placed on children to ensure they are ‘ready for school’ may conflict with teachers' understanding of how young children learn, their pedagogical philosophies and classroom practices. In this paper, cultural‐historical activity theory (CHAT) is utilised as a methodological and analytical framework, specifically harnessing Engeström and Sannino's work on ‘manifestations of contradictions’. This theoretical lens is applied to elucidate the specific contradictions that surface at the policy–practice interface and to explore how teachers navigate these conflicts and tensions. Data were gathered through interviews with two Reception teachers and analysed to identify four distinct contradiction categories: dilemmas, double binds, critical conflicts and conflicts. The findings make a critical contribution to ongoing debates about the implications of the school readiness agenda on teacher beliefs, professional knowledge and the impact on children. Furthermore, this paper extends an original contribution to the practical application of CHAT in Early Childhood Education (ECE) research and emphasises the utility of identifying linguistic cues as an effective strategy to reveal contradictions in textual data, thereby furthering understanding of policy–practice tensions in ECE.

Researching student competence development through the lens of cultural historical activity theory

ABSTRACT In the present study, we followed a group of students over the course of a three-semester project aimed at increasing their abilities to express their competence development. Extensive data (video, transcripts, documentation of artifacts and communications, and field notes) was analyzed in a framework analysis based on cultural–historical activity theory (CHAT). We understood contradictions, either within or between students’ activity systems, as drivers for expansive learning. Based on the in-depth analysis of three exemplary students, this study adds to the understanding of competence development in higher education by pointing out its individuality and situatedness, as well as the social dimension of expansive learning. Implications call for researchers and educators not to take competence development for granted when designing learning opportunities, but deliberately to create spaces in which competence expression can be facilitated.