Sociocultural Activity Theory Research Articles

Literacy Research, Systems Thinking, and Climate Change

This article posits the need for literacy research on teachers’ and students’ use of systems thinking for studying climate change. Drawing on sociocultural activity theory of learning, it perceives the need for engaging in systems thinking given the negative impacts of energy, transportation and community design, agriculture and food production, and economics and politics systems themselves on ecosystems—for example, the negative effects of fossil fuel energy systems on emissions production. Researchers could analyze teachers’ and/or students’ use of the following components derived from activity theory for analyzing these systems: objects and outcomes, roles, tools, rules and norms, and beliefs and discourses. For example, teachers and students may employ language for naming phenomena about climate change, responding to literature, engaging in media production, or using emissions mapping tools to critique status-quo systems and use those tools to portray ways of transforming those systems. They may also engage in critical inquiry of rules and norms or beliefs and discourses derived from capitalist economic systems that promote excessive consumption with detrimental environmental impacts and attempts in the political system to resist instruction on climate change.

NUMBER PATTERN CALCULATOR INSTRUCTION LESSON: A TEACHERS’ MATHEMATICS CLASSROOM REFERENCE RESOURCE

This study demonstrates how number patterns can be used for calculator instructional lesson. The lesson’s strengths are reflected by teachers’ qualitative evaluation comments. The study contributes teacher learning material on calculator use for their professional development. The study is guided by qualitative case study research design utilising socio-cultural activity theory. Data were collected from the teacher’s scheme of work, observation of three 20 minutes lessons separated by 15 minutes breaks and lesson evaluation discussions from the lesson’s video by 46 mathematics teachers in five groups. The study found that: the demonstration lesson motivated participating teachers and learners to use calculators. The demonstrating teacher had a high pedagogical technology knowledge level (being proficient user of a calculator, understanding principles and techniques required to use the calculator to teach mathematics). The class environment was conducive (allowed learners to talk to each other or stand to consult a friend on the other desk). Every learner had a calculator. Demonstration charts were clear and visible from the back of the class. The teacher was enthusiastic, able to sequence content and reflect on investigative teaching methods. Teacher applied demonstration, directive, group and individual activities in the same lesson. Calculator application procedure notes on learners’ cell phones brought the teacher on the child’s side for a one-on-one tutorial. Study concluded that, calculators make mathematics exploration, experimentation and learning mathematics patterns possible and interesting. Collaborative inquiry was the framework of the lesson. Learners were motivated to learn in and out of the class. Some learners had challenges of low vision. They took time to identify [x2], [x3] and [yx] calculator keys. Those with thick fingers and ladies with long artificial finger nails pressed more than one key at a time. These experiences form assumed knowledge content for next lesson introduction.

Exploring the G.E.A.R.S. of Learning for Youth through Community Development

Learning leads to development and change for youth. It is through learning that the youth acquire knowledge, skills, values, and worldview that effect change that is based on the asset or strength-based youth development model. Such learning develops from their informal and nonformal learning that involves skill building, exploration, reflection, creativity, role experimentation from their leisure and play opportunities. Informal and nonformal learning take place from supervised Out-of-School (OST) programs where the young people develop various social skills. This paper examines the literature and theories related to OST settings, social learning, youth development, and how youth learn within a community. The youths referred here are those from Generation Z who were born between 1995 and 2010 or the late Millennials. Not all the youths’ time in school are in the formal learning settings. Part of it is in the OST settings such as extracurricular activities of their school activities or in recreational pursuits for those not in the school system such as those in sports, recreational, or youth-serving organizations. Studies have found that OST programmes contribute to academic outcomes, social/emotional outcomes, prevention outcomes, and health and wellness outcomes, as well as developmental benefits where one of one of its programme elements is active forms of learning to enable youths to learn skills. Theoretically, OST relates to Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural activity theory (AT). Since youth is a transition from childhood to adulthood, likewise, so is their learning, that is, low pedagogy/high andragogy. Together with a study on Gen Z learning and that of Bandura’s social cognitive/social learning theories, a new model of youth learning was conceptualized for community of practice. This model is G.E.A.R.S – Guided, Experiential, Activity-oriented, Reflection, and Self-understanding. This model is a form of nonformal learning that is practical, holistic, and real world that complements formal classroom learning.

Transferring and adapting XR design principles across the Pacific

The use of mixed reality (MR, also XR) as an educational approach and pedagogical strategy merging real world and digital affordances along an immersive learning continuum has been explored across educational settings and contexts (Liu et al., 2017; Maas & Hughes, 2020). In a study examining purposeful educational design using free-choice and self-determined mobile learning in and outside of the classroom in the context of marine conservation education to enhance ecological literacy, an XR intervention was co-designed with primary students and partners and implemented at a marine education centre located adjacent to a marine reserve north of Auckland, in Aotearoa New Zealand (Eames & Aguayo, 2019). The design, development, and implementation of the XR intervention followed design principles and guidelines for the development of XR learning, grouped under four main areas: marine science and conservation (the context); development of ecological literacy; teaching and learning considerations; and mobile learning opportunities (the technology) (Aguayo et al., 2020). The XR intervention was named ‘Pipi’s World’, and included a set of analog and digital elements, resources and learning opportunities themed around Pipi the snapper, a young female character who could show users her world, and the positive impacts of marine conservation. Pipi’s World intervention included an augmented reality (AR) app, QR codes triggering 360 virtual reality (VR) videos, a high-end CGI (computer-generated interface) underwater VR adventure, a series of non-digital haptic experiences themed under a kelp forest (Smith, 2018), and a snorkel tour in the marine reserve. Evidence from this study indicates that the XR intervention had educational impact, by assisting some knowledge and attitude development on learners towards marine ecological literacy during and post-intervention (Eames & Aguayo, 2020). 
 The framework that informed Pipi’s World study was transferred, adapted, and tested during 2020-2021 in a similar marine conservation education context in Las Cruces, in central Chile. The local context presented similarities with Pipi’s world in that both projects were based within a marine education centre situated next to a marine research station and marine reserve, with educational programmes tailored to meet the local national curriculum for primary and secondary learners, in addition to learning activities for visitors from the public. From the outset the framework developed by Aguayo et al. (2020) contained design principles that are generic in many ways but flexible and adaptable enough to be locally developed, according to the specific characteristics and conditions of each educational context. Following socio-ethnographic and socio-cultural activity theory considerations and strategies (Aguayo, 2016; Engeström, 1987; Leadbetter, 2005), framed on a design-based research methodology (Amiel & Reeves, 2008), the grounding of the framework in the Chilean context consisted of examining the viability and adaptability of the framework’s components within the local context (e.g. defining local topics of interests in marine conservation). This process was carried out with a local panel of experts, both online and over several visits to the target location, resulting in the XR intervention ‘Explora Chile Es Mar’ (explore Chile’s ocean) containing a range of real and virtual affordances addressing Chile’s marine conservation priorities, launched in June 2021. This presentation reports on the process and key aspects leading to the development of the XR intervention Explora Chile es Mar, with emphasis on the transferability and adaptability of the original framework into the Chilean context, including some comparison between both case studies, and implications and recommendations for future research and practice.

How academics manage individual differences to team teach in higher education: a sociocultural activity theory perspective

How academics manage individual differences to team teach in higher education: a sociocultural activity theory perspective

Bridging the divide: understanding collaborative action in disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction through socio-cultural activity theory

PurposeThis paper presents a methodological reflection on the use of socio-cultural activity theory (SCAT) as a framework to understand collaborative action and problem-solving between people with disabilities and non-disabled stakeholders in three disaster risk reduction (DRR) initiatives led by Disabled People's Organisations (DPOs) in Indonesia.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on case study research, using a multiple case design. It looks at the conception and implementation of three DPO-led DRR projects in Indonesia. It focuses hereby on the processes and outcomes of collaborations between DPOs and non-disabled stakeholders. It presents a reflection as to what extent the six elements of SCAT were present.FindingsThe investigation of SCAT's six elements captured the co-construction of DPO-led DRR projects and constant changes and transformation in implementation. The findings reveal the dynamics of the collaboration between DPOs and non-disabled stakeholders (e.g. funding donors, DRR experts, government and community groups) and its outcomes and learning points.Practical implicationsSCAT can provide a better understanding of collaborative learning processes and associated outcomes between DPOs and DRR actors. Such collaborations facilitate the timely and relevant inclusion of people with disabilities in DRR initiatives through DPOs' leadership in DRR. Furthermore, such initiatives can promote the realisation of the disability-inclusion principle of the Sendai Framework for DRR, which is underpinned by the all-of-society approach to DRR.Originality/valueThis paper presents a reflection on the use of SCAT in inclusive disaster studies, thereby enabling further investigation and understanding of how the collaboration between disabled and non-disabled stakeholders occurs, and its implication. This is a topic that has been rarely tackled in the disability and disaster studies literature and practice.

Discovering the determinants of museum visitors’ immersion into experience: the impact of interactivity, expectations, and skepticism

ABSTRACT The paper explores two dimensions of visitors’ immersion into museum experience: aesthetics and escapism. Following the socio-cultural activity theory, it examines the impact of interactive technology available in museums on aesthetic and escapist experience. Additionally, it examines the role of hedonic expectations and the level of visitor scepticism (or its absence) towards museums with regard to immersion into the experience. Quantitative research was carried out on a sample of 313 museum visitors surveyed in two Croatian cities. Partial least structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used for model testing. The results showed that interactive technology enhances immersion, also helping less sceptical visitors as well as those with hedonic expectations get immersed in the museum experience quickly. Aesthetic experience can enhance escapist experience. While both dimensions of immersion into experience contribute to the overall satisfaction, the aesthetic experience of museum visits was found to contribute to it more.

Bridging Museum Mission to Visitors' Experience: Activity, Meanings, Interactions, Technology.

In recent years, the contribution of various disciplines and professionals (i.e., from marketing, computer science, psychology, and pedagogy) to museum management has encouraged the development of a new conception of museology. Specifically, psychology has affected the overall conception of museum and the visitors toward a more holistic vision of the museum experience as a complexity of memory, personal drives, group identity, meaning-making process, as well as leisure preferences. In this regard, psychological research contributes to advance the scientific knowledge about psychological and social phenomena related to the visitor experience, as well as to design innovative technologies and future tourism services. The present contribution discusses the Socio-Cultural Activity Theory (AT) as a theoretical framework to conceptualize the museum visit as an activity mediated by the technology, and to better identify the factors shaping the interaction between the visitors and the technologies. To do so, a case study is presented: a qualitative research performed at the Ara Pacis Museum in Rome (Italy) to analyze the visitor experience of a tour that integrates augmented and virtual reality. Information derived from applying AT on visitors’ experience highlight the value of technology as mediating tool between the museum mission and the visitor experience, considering the interaction between visitors’ characteristics, museum environmental dimensions, and technology’s features.

The emergence of blissful thinking in the management of education

ABSTRACTBy the year 2000, the management of education in England had lost much of its capacity to ensure the commitment of headteachers and teachers. As market forces engendered competition among schools, the bureaucratic monitoring of schools by agencies of government increased on the grounds that objective and comparable data about schools should be made public so that parents could express a rational choice of school. Levels of stress increased; workloads intensified. Thereafter, a series of ‘softer’ approaches emerged in order to deal with this. They have coalesced around the concept of ‘leadership’, particularly distributed leadership and, more recently, emotional leadership and spiritual leadership. Distributed leadership draws on socio-cultural activity theory; emotional leadership is informed by positive psychology; spiritual leadership by eastern mysticism. Each has its advocates and its critics. At issue, however, is not so much their relative effectiveness but rather it is to relate them to the economic, cultural and political trends which have allowed them to emerge. These ‘soft’ normative leadership approaches have not supplanted a digitally-informed rational bureaucratic form in education; they are supplementing it. The theoretical stance taken falls within the field of critical theory.

An Activity‐Based Instructional Framework for Transforming Authentic Modeling Practices into Meaningful Contexts for Learning in Science Education

ABSTRACTOne of the challenges of science education is to integrate activities, content, and tools in a meaningful manner. One way to address this challenging goal is the transformation of authentic scientific practices into contexts for learning, in line with sociocultural activity theory. In this respect, authentic scientific practices are interpreted as the totality of human work situated in society. Within such authentic scientific practices, the activities, content, and tools are connected logically and the relevance is clear among its participants. This study presents an activity‐based instructional framework that assists educational designers in transforming authentic scientific practices for the population of students in science education. The activity‐based instructional framework has been dialectically constructed with the design and classroom enactment of a curriculum unit based on an authentic chemical modeling practice. The curriculum unit was developed through a participatory design process that took teachers’ expertise into account. The pedagogical decisions were abstracted in design guidelines. The curriculum unit was implemented multiple times in classroom to evaluate the design guidelines. Research data were collected by means of audio‐taped discussions, completed worksheets, and written questionnaires. The findings supported the potential of transforming authentic scientific practices to achieve meaningful science education.

Early Intervention For Children With Disabilities: Multidisciplinary Collaboration Between Health And Education Services

Supported by Engeström (2008) socio-cultural activity theory (SCAT) this case study explored the nature of multidisciplinary collaboration in the provision of early intervention services for children with disabilities in Ghana. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting eight (8) respondents out of a population of 25 coordinators. A semi-structured face to face interview was used to ascertain the views of coordinators from health and education agencies on multidisciplinary collaboration. The interview was recorded and data was analysed thematically where the respondents were coded. The study revealed that the School Health Education Programme (SHEP) and Special Education (SPED) coordinators were consistently present at the multidisciplinary team (MDT) collaborations and collaboration done was such that the education agency involved the health agency at a level where the child with disability needed medical intervention. It came to light that, members of the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) did not fully handle cases themselves; hence where specialist attention was needed, such referrals were made. It was further revealed that financial constraints and improper dissemination of information were the challenges that multidisciplinary teams faced in the study area. Based on the findings, it was recommended that parents should be actively involved in the MDT collaboration whiles strengthening the referral process in collaboration.

Enabling Outcomes for Students with Developmental Disabilities through Collaborative Consultation

Collaborative consultation has been widely adopted in school-based occupational therapy practice; however, limited research has examined how collaboration between educators and occupational therapists contributes to students’ outcomes. The purpose of this study was to describe the nature of collaborative working in two cases of school-based occupational therapy service delivery. This paper reports a cross-case analysis, comparing findings about the nature of a joint effort in each case study to identify workplace practices that facilitated educator-occupational therapist collaboration. Ethnographic case study methods (Stake, 1995; Wolcott, 2008) and socio-cultural activity theory (SCAT; Engeström, 2001) were used to examine multiple perspectives concerning school-based occupational therapy collaborative consultation for two students with developmental disability in one region of Ontario, Canada. Cross-case analysis (Stake, 2006) facilitated examination of the similarities and differences in teamwork. Specific ways that educator-occupational therapist collaboration can be facilitated were identified in three areas: (a) focus for educational programming; (b) communication practices; and (c) leadership practices of educators. SCAT provided a robust framework for describing the depth, quality, and context of interactions from multiple stakeholder perspectives. As such, this research contributes to the development of theoretical and empirical perspectives on the processes of collaborative working and the relationship of these processes to outcomes.

Evaluating the outcomes and implementation of a TaMHS (Targeting Mental Health in Schools) project in four West Midlands (UK) schools using activity theory

Government guidance in 2008 endorsed the “Targeting Mental Health in Schools” (TaMHS) agenda, which sets out to promote mental health in schools through the delivery of universal and targeted interventions. This paper initially defines mental health and outlines the TaMHS initiative. It then offers empirical findings from four focus groups with schools who took part in the TaMHS initiative in one local authority. Socio-cultural activity theory is used as an analytic framework to explore perceived outcomes of TaMHS, as well as providing insight into the processes of TaMHS implementation. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings are consistent with existing literature and suggest positive outcomes for children, staff and the whole-school system. Implications for the role of educational psychologists in continuing to promote mental health in schools and considerations for effective implementation are discussed.

Using activity theory to study cultural complexity in medical education.

There is a growing need for research on culture, cultural differences and cultural effects of globalization in medical education, but these are complex phenomena to investigate. Socio-cultural activity theory seems a useful framework to study cultural complexity, because it matches current views on culture as a dynamic process situated in a social context, and has been valued in diverse fields for yielding rich understandings of complex issues and key factors involved. This paper explains how activity theory can be used in (cross-)cultural medical education research. We discuss activity theory’s theoretical background and principles, and we show how these can be applied to the cultural research practice by discussing the steps involved in a cross-cultural study that we conducted, from formulating research questions to drawing conclusions. We describe how the activity system, the unit of analysis in activity theory, can serve as an organizing principle to grasp cultural complexity. We end with reflections on the theoretical and practical use of activity theory for cultural research and note that it is not a shortcut to capture cultural complexity: it is a challenge for researchers to determine the boundaries of their study and to analyze and interpret the dynamics of the activity system.

Activity theory: a framework for understanding multi-agency working and engaging service users in change

This article discusses the quality of professional relationships between educational psychologists (EPs) and other professionals who work around children, young people and their families as part of a multi-agency team (MAT). The perceived barriers to, and facilitators of, effective multi-agency working are explored in relation to their potential impact upon the process of engaging service users in change. The actions that take place within a MAT are analysed from the systemic perspective of sociocultural activity theory (AT), and supported by examples drawn from behaviour and education support teams (BESTs). The implications for professional practice are discussed.

Working with Street Boys: Importance of Creating a Socially Safe Environment through Social Partnership, and Collaboration through Peer-based Interaction

Street children are the most excluded group of people in any society. The general attitude towards them is to criminalise and pathologise. The “To-gather with Children Project” (TCP) has been developed by the Maltepe University Research and Application Centre for Street Children (SOYAC) in Istanbul and implemented in conjunction with the General Directorate of Social Services and Child Protection Agency (SHÇEK). SHÇEK is the core state agency responsible for street children and their protection in Turkey. The TCP started in September 2010. Within the scope of this project, undergraduate psychology students visited SHCEK organisations for three hours on a weekly basis to engage with the children in joint activities that ranged from games and sports to training programmes, including helping the children with literacy skills. In June 2011, in-depth interviews were carried out with the children and their service providers for the purposes of evaluating the project. Findings are discussed from the Sociocultural Activity Theory, Child's Perspective, and Peer-based Intervention. This paper explores the outcomes of this research, which strongly put forward the importance of government–university partnership, of creating a socially safe environment through social partnership including peer-based intervention in working with street-involved children.

Managing to Lead: Reframing School Leadership and Management

Leadership and management make a difference in increasing school productivity and turning around struggling schools. But common ways of thinking about leadership and management limit how we think about the work. Too often, we place the burden for saving a failing school on the principal, perpetuating a view of successful school leaders as heroes and less successful ones as failures. Too often, we give short shrift to the practice of leading and managing, focusing instead on leadership styles or personal approaches. Dwelling on the formal school organization, we overlook informal relationships that are fundamental to leadership. By fixating on leadership, we pay inadequate attention to the importance of management. At Northwestern University, we're working to change how researchers, developers, practitioners, and policy makers think about school leadership and management. Over the last decade, as part of the Distributed Leadership Studies (DLS), we've been developing a new framework for examining school leadership and management (www.distributedleadership.org). Viewed from this framework, school leadership practice is constructed through the interactions of leaders, followers, and aspects of the context. The framework draws on theoretical and empirical work from various fields, including distributed cognition and sociocultural activity theory (Spillane, Halverson, and Diamond 2001, 2004). Our distributed framework, like all frameworks, has limitations, as it highlights some aspects of leading and managing and backgrounds others. It does, however, offer a fresh perspective on these phenomena. Our distributed framework involves two core aspects: principal plus and practice (Spillane 2006). The principal plus aspect acknowledges that multiple individuals are involved in leading and managing schools. The practice aspect prioritizes the practice of leading and managing and frames this practice as emerging from interactions among school leaders and followers, mediated by the situation in which the work occurs. In our view, practice is more about interaction than action. Putting practice center stage allows us to focus where the rubber of school leadership and management meets the road of instructional improvement. Our distributed perspective is not a blueprint for leading and managing. Rather, it's a framework for researchers and practitioners to use in diagnosing the practice of leading and managing and designing for its improvement (Spillane 2006; Spillane and Diamond 2007). We employ the distributed framework to various ends. First, we're designing and validating such research instruments as practice logs and social network instruments (Camburn, Spillane, and Sebastian, under review; Spillane and Zuberi 2009; Pitts and Spillane 2009; Pustejovsky and Spillane, in press). While these instruments are designed for gathering data, practitioners can also use them to reflect on practice. Second, based on our analysis of data from multiple sites, we're able to describe leadership and management arrangements in schools and explore relations between these arrangements and other crucial variables in the school context--organizational conditions, instructional innovation, and student learning. This will enable us to describe what works--and what doesn't--in school leadership and management. Third, we're building curriculum modules to engage school leaders in their own diagnostic and design work using the distributed perspective. The Principal Plus: Rethinking Who Has and Who Takes Responsibility While allowing for the occasional hero or heroine in school leadership, our distributed frame presses us to reach beyond the principal to pay attention to other designated leaders. The work of leading and managing involves a cast of others in addition to the principal, such as assistant principals, curriculum specialists, mentor teachers, and department chairs (Spillane 2006; Spillane and Diamond 2007; Spillane, Hunt, and Healey 2009). …

Participation Structures as a Mediational Means: Learning Balinese Gamelan in the United States Through Intent Participation, Mediated Discourse, and Distributed Cognition

Participation has presented a complex unit of analysis for interactional sociolinguistics. In this study I add another dimension to participation by considering recent theories related to sociocultural activity theory—mediated discourse analysis and distributed cognition. Drawing on examples from maguru panggul, the traditional pedagogy of Balinese Gamelan music, I argue that participation structures are a mediational means that enable students to augment their learning. Focusing on two participation structures that involve keen observation and listening-in, I also consider how intent participation is a part of these participation structures and maguru panggul pedagogy. What emerges is an understanding of how participation structures used as mediational means can have an effect on the division of cognitive labor within a classroom.

A new paradigm to inform inter-professional learning for integrating speech and language provision into secondary schools: a socio-cultural activity theory approach

The paper presents a new way of understanding and investigating inter-professional learning across agencies for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) in schools in England. It considers specifically speech and language therapy staff and school staff learning to work together and working to learn together in secondary mainstream provision. Concepts and analysis of learning to work collaboratively are orientated by socio-cultural activity theory. In addition, evidence of learning for risk-taking and resilience are presented which are not readily analysed by the theory. The paper argues for considering collaborative working as organizational learning predicated on collective, rather than individual, engagement.

Playing with rules around routines: children making mealtimes meaningful and enjoyable

Children attending early childhood education and care centres spend a lot of time fitting in with institutional routines. This paper uses ethnographic methods and sociocultural activity theory to describe and analyse the processes whereby young children in an early childhood centre collectively created meaning and interest during potentially boring routine mealtimes. The research explores the relationship between rules and children's playful activity. Using their imaginations children negotiated and played with and within the rules around ‘eating‐together’ times. While physically constrained in chairs around tables children enjoyed the freedom of playing with word sounds and meanings. Children actively, collaboratively and at times subversively, created their peer community culture.