Using Activity Theory as an Analysis Tool for Professional Training: The Case of Pre-Service Teacher Cohorts
Abstract
In this session, participants will learn the use of Activity Theory as a technique to improve professional training. Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT, Engeström, 1987) provides a model to explain the changes in human behavior over time. Based on the socio-cultural work of Vygotsky, CHAT analyzes the social factors that influence the course of action utilized by subjects to both reach a desired outcome and develop the meaning the subject attached to that outcome. CHAT is valuable for the study of teaching and learning by explicitly recognizing social factors and their impact on those processes, providing educators with a tool for improvement. A case study using a cohort of pre-service teachers will be used as an example of the technique and participants will be provided graphic organizers for their own use in employing this theory-based tool.
Location
Room 2904
Recommended Citation
Knorr, Ron, "Using Activity Theory as an Analysis Tool for Professional Training: The Case of Pre-Service Teacher Cohorts " (2011). SoTL Commons Conference. 17.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2011/17
Using Activity Theory as an Analysis Tool for Professional Training: The Case of Pre-Service Teacher Cohorts
Room 2904
In this session, participants will learn the use of Activity Theory as a technique to improve professional training. Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT, Engeström, 1987) provides a model to explain the changes in human behavior over time. Based on the socio-cultural work of Vygotsky, CHAT analyzes the social factors that influence the course of action utilized by subjects to both reach a desired outcome and develop the meaning the subject attached to that outcome. CHAT is valuable for the study of teaching and learning by explicitly recognizing social factors and their impact on those processes, providing educators with a tool for improvement. A case study using a cohort of pre-service teachers will be used as an example of the technique and participants will be provided graphic organizers for their own use in employing this theory-based tool.
