From habituality to change : Contribution of activity theory and pragmatism to practice theories

Peer reviewe

Collaboration, dialogue and expansive learning: the use of paired and multiple placements in the school practicum

This study examines the way in which paired or multiple placements of student teachers in the school practicum can support learning through the promotion of collaboration and dialogue. It draws on data collected across six higher education institution (HEI)-secondary schools partnerships in England and focuses on a series of 20 case studies from one partnership. The results suggest that peer placements can support more expansive and deeper learning, especially where attention has been given to the structuring of the placements and the role of the mentor or cooperating teacher. In such cases there are also reciprocal benefits for the school

Working with activity theory : context, technology, and information behavior

Over the last 7 years, the AIMTech Research Group in the University of Leeds has used cultural‐historical activity theory (CHAT) to inform a range of research activities in the fields of information behavior and information systems. In this article, we identify certain openings and theoretical challenges in the field of information behavior, which sparked our initial interest in CHAT: context, technology, and the link between practice and policy. We demonstrate the relevance of CHAT in studying information behavior and addressing the identified openings and argue that by providing a framework and hierarchy of activity‐action‐operation and semantic tools, CHAT is able to overcome many of the uncertainties concerning information behavior research. In particular, CHAT provides researchers a theoretical lens to account for context and activity mediation and, by doing so, can increase the significance of information behavior research to practice. In undertaking this endeavour, we have relied on literature from the fields of information science and others where CHAT is employed. We provide a detailed description of how CHAT may be applied to information behavior and account for the concepts we see as relevant to its study

The Natural, the Artificial and Human Sciences

The author analyses the possibilities of transforming human mind in connection with the appearance of “digital civilization” and the development of human sciences, in particular, cognitive and neural ones. The article argues that human sciences can promote human perfection (and will not be used as a means of its degradation) only if they take into account the principal fact: the human being is a natural/artificial creature engaged in activity and culture. In this context the author studies the relationship between individual and collective activity and analyzes different forms of the latter: relative independence of participants, distributed activity, and cooperative activity. Cooperation requires constant communication between the participants. Therefore activity and communication cannot be opposed to each other, as the act of communication matters only in the context of activity, and also because communication itself can be understood as a specific kind of activity. In this connection social constructionism in psychology and other human sciences is criticized

Aerospace Supply Chains as Evolutionary Networks of Activities: Innovation Via Risk-Sharing Partnerships

In the aerospace industry competitive advantage is searched through product innovation. This paper sets out to explore the effects that relationship development in the commercial aerospace supply chains have on innovation and competitive advantage. A perspective of supply chains as complex activity networks is used for data analysis based on in-depth interviews in a global setting. Applying these concepts of supply chains as the interaction of multiple work activities assists in comprehending the forces of change. The processes of change are characterized by expansive learning processes of creating instruments for initializing, developing and sustaining these relationships. These processes take place in a terrain of complex power exercises. The long-term effects are totally dependent on nurturing the relationships. The findings may be useful to practitioners in understanding how implementation of successful supply chain changes may come about. It promotes risk-sharing partnerships as instruments for innovation. The paper provides evidence of changing relationships in commercial aerospace supply chains

Human Development and the Creative Potential of Culture (Roundtable of the methodological seminar supervised by V.V. Rubtsov and B.D. Elkonin)

On May 25, 2018 the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education hosted a methodological seminar “Human Development and the Creative Potential of Culture” (supervised by V.V. Rubtsov and B.D. Elkonin) that was dedicated to the 80th birthday of the renowned American psychologist professor Michael Cole, the disciple of A.R. Luria and the successor of the cultural-historical and activity approaches in psychology. Michael Cole has and continues to put a lot of effort into the internationalization and development of these acknowledged Russian approaches all over the world. The seminar was organized by the Cultural-Historical Psychology journal and the International UNESCO Chair of Cultural-Historical Psychology of Childhood (MSUPE). The issues discussed in the seminar included: 1. Understanding culture: from the environment to the origins of human development; 2. Cultural-historical psychology: the language of mutual understanding and the creative tool in science and education; 3. The diversity of cultural mediation of human activity in the modern world; 4. Cultural-activity approach as an interdisciplinary project; 5. Psychology and sociocultural practices of human development; 6. From joint activity towards co-creation of culture; 7. Imagination: the ‘third’ eye of culture. Among the participants of the seminar were Russian researchers V.V. Rubtsov, A.A. Margolis, A.G. Asmolov, V.T. Kudryavtsev, N.N. Nechaev, V.A. Lektorsky, T.V. Akhutina, Zh.M. Glozman, M.V. Falikman, B.D. Elkonin, V.A. Guruzhapov as well as M. Cole himself and his friend and colleague J.Wertsch (both participating online). The paper presents the full text of the discussion

From Joint Activity to the Construction of New SocialCommunities: Jointness. Creativity. Education. School (Roundtable of the methodological seminar supervisedby V.V. Rubtsov and B.D. Elkonin)

On July 10, 2018 a discussion seminar “From Joint Activity to the Construction of New Social Communities: Jointness. Creativity. Education. School” was held at the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education dedicated to the 70th birthday of professor Vitaly Rubtsov, Rector of MSUPE. Some of the discussed topics were: “Sociogenesis and the productive nature of joint action”, “From co-operation to co-creation: new forms of community in joint activity”, “Jointness in play, learning and design activity”, “School as the place for developing various forms of child-adult communities and activities”. Among the participants of the seminar were representatives of the leading research and educational organizations: Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education, Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and others. Here we present the full text of the discussion