Developing Teaching in the "University Classroom": The Teacher as Researcher when Initiating and Researching Innovations

The teacher’s role in the university classroom has traditionally been to present the syllabus to listening students. In Norway new rules have been introduced for the activity in this classroom. The overarching goal for the teaching is to organize a learning situation that makes the students active learners. The article deals with the teacher as a researcher, and focuses on how innovative actions can be implemented by the teacher and studied from a researcher point of view. The text presents cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) as both the theoretical framework for the organized actions in the classroom and as an approach for studying the classroom processes. The article gives an overview over a material that can be gathered in a classroom characterized by student activity. It ends by reflections on how development in one classroom can be transferred to other classrooms.  &nbsp

Cultural historical activity theory and Dewey’s idea-based social constructivism: Consequences for Educational Research

Background: Our theoretical perspectives direct ourresearch processes. The article contributes to the debateon Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) andDewey’s idea-based social constructivism, and to thedebate on methodology and how the researcher’s theoreticalstance guides the researcher in his or her work.Purpose: The article presents fundamental ideaswithin CHAT and Dewey’s idea-based social constructivism.The purpose of the text is to discuss and examinehow ideas in these two theories guide educationalresearch conducted within the framework of these twoapproaches. Furthermore, the article aims to contributeto the discussion on CHAT and Dewey’s theory.Sources of evidence: Ideas based on Vygotsky’stheories, represented mainly by James Wertsch, MichaelCole, Barbara Rogoff and Yrjö Engeström, andDewey’s ideas, are examined and discussed in relationto educational research. Furthermore, statements madeby Mietinnen, Garrison and Rorty are taken into accountin the discussion on the two outlined theories.Main argument: When CHAT and Dewey’s theoryguide researchers in their work, they have to take thecontext or situation into consideration. Artefacts aretreated as part of this context, and therefore have to bea focal point of the research. In educational research theclassroom and the teacher are also central parts of thelearning environment or context. The teacher is the oneto form the learning environment in which the pupilsthink and act, and therefore, the teacher’s role in theclassroom is important. If researchers are to manage tofocus on pupils’ learning, they must direct their researchfocus both on the teacher as an organizer of the activitiesand on the collaborating and supporting processes between the teacher and the pupils, and between thepupils. This means that the research focus has to includeboth activity and dialogue, which includes processes inall their complexity.Conclusions: Mediating artefacts play a central roleboth in CHAT and Dewey’s theory. If the researcher isto ascertain what the pupils learn when using specificartefacts, he or she will have to study the activities orprocesses within which these learning aids are used.This indicates that the researcher has to study learningprocesses in progress. Garrison states that Dewey’s approachis a philosophy of cultural development. Miettinenfinds that Dewey’s theory does not serve as thefoundation for both historical and cultural analyses ofaction. I disagree with Rorty and Mietinnen, and ratherfollow Garrison’s lead. In both theories, social, culturaland historical factors are, in my opinion, viewed asdecisive factors intertwined in what happens here andnow. Therefore the setting that frames the activity withits social, cultural and historical aspects also has to bebrought into focus in one’s research activity

The Researcher's Role: An Ethical Dimension

Different paradigms or perspectives function as the point of departure and framework for research. In this article ethical issues in the positivist and constructivist paradigms are presented. The article points out that more or less the same ethical codes are used in these paradigms, but with some nuanced interpretations. CHAT (cultural historical activity theory) is presented as a third paradigm. While conducting research, one intention within this paradigm is to change and improve practice. This means that the researcher and the research participants during the research process together set the goals for the work and try to change practice en route to these goals. The relation between the researcher and the research participants is different than in the other two presented paradigms. This means that research in the CHAT paradigm also needs to be guided by different ethical codes. The purpose of this article is to show how some of the traditional ethical codes which direct research both in the positivist and constructivist paradigm change and are also inadequate in the CHAT paradigm. The article presents and discusses ethical codes that challenge the researchers’ communicative, social and knowledge competence. 

Developing Teaching in the "University Classroom": The Teacher as Researcher when Initiating and Researching Innovations

The teacher&rsquo;s role in the university classroom has traditionally been to present the syllabus to listening students. In Norway new rules have been introduced for the activity in this classroom. The overarching goal for the teaching is to organize a learning situation that makes the students active learners. The article deals with the teacher as a researcher, and focuses on how innovative actions can be implemented by the teacher and studied from a researcher point of view. The text presents cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) as both the theoretical framework for the organized actions in the classroom and as an approach for studying the classroom processes. The article gives an overview over a material that can be gathered in a classroom characterized by student activity. It ends by reflections on how development in one classroom can be transferred to other classrooms.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p

Communication in Crises:How Dialogues Mediate Actions

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Student teachers’ experience of participating in a research and development project in Norway

This study investigates student teachers’ experience of participating in a research and development project named Learning, Assessment and Boundary-crossing in Teacher Education (LAB-TEd). LAB-TEd is a tripartite collaboration project between student teachers, practice teachers and university teachers from two universities in Norway. Framed by cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), participatory data analysis workshops, known as Change Laboratories, have been used to ensure the relevance of the student teachers’ thesis work for professional development, and to uncover obstacles and barriers to change. Recent research highlights that teachers are typical participants in Change Laboratories implemented in teacher education and schools. There are few studies that highlight student teachers as participants in such interventions, and this may indicate that this is a field of research that is important to investigate. The purpose of the article is to provide insight about how student teachers’ experience participating in a research and development project grounded in CHAT. The data material consists of qualitative interviews with 34 student teachers. Findings from this study indicate that student teachers experienced a development journey by participating in the project. The following are the main findings from the study: The student teachers experienced that their own drive and motivation went from self-interest as the driving force for participation, to a more collective understanding. The student teachers first experienced tripartite collaboration as non-existent, later to become tripartite collaboration. The student teachers experienced how their role in the project’s tripartite collaboration developed from serving as a communication link between university and school, to becoming an actual participant. The student teachers also experienced how their role in Change Laboratories changed from being voiceless participants to becoming more equal partners in the project. The discussion elaborates on the development journey that the participants experienced

The complementarity of formative intervention research, action research and action learning

Background This article focuses on the complementarity between formative interventions research conducted within the framework of cultural historical activity theory, action research and learning, as well as how this complementarity influences the researcher’s role. Purpose The study suggests how action research, learning and formative interventions can be complementary in educational research and, furthermore, how this complementarity can challenge and expand the researcher’s role when supporting and researching school development processes. Sources of evidence A previously conducted study is presented as an example. The analysis of the researcher’s role is based on observations, interviews, reflection conversations and questionnaires focusing on the arenas in which the researcher acted. Main argument The paper argues that the researcher’s role in educational research should be expanded, combining the researcher’s role both in action research and in formative interventions. The example study shows that researchers must engage with teachers in their teaching and support them in their daily practice, thus helping them to apply new knowledge to practical situations in order to develop their practice. Conclusions Complementarity between action research, action learning and formative interventions aligns the processes at the classroom and system levels, leading to school development

Premises and Promises for Expansive Learning in Teacher Education

The study presented in the article focused on school-based development in lower secondary schools in Norway. School-based development represents a new practice not only for school leaders and teachers but also for teacher educators, who should assist schools in their development processes. The study was conducted within the framework of cultural historical activity theory (CHAT). The aim of the professional development project was twofold: to develop teaching practice in schools and also to evolve the teaching in the participating teacher education institutions. The problem formulation for the article is the following: How does teacher educators’ collaboration with schools contribute to learning in their own institutions? The purpose of the study was to find out how the teacher education institutions’ participation influenced the activity within the institutions and what factors could impede or support teacher educators’ actions and learning, and even expansive learning. Expansive learning means that a new collective practice or activity is developed in the institution. To answer the research question, a collective case study was conducted to understand the premises and promises for expansive learning in teacher education. The study found “Organizing of the work at the institutions,” “Teacher educators’ experiences and learning,” “Teacher educators as researchers,” and “Leadership and change” to be central categories that can describe teacher educators’ work and its premises and promises. The study concludes that leadership at the institutions is the main factor that can impede or enhance expansive learning and thus institutional development, and that an interplay between content, culture, and structure is necessary for expansive learning in teacher education

"I can't find my grandma on the Internet!" : A Study of Project Work Using ICT as a Mediating Artefact

Life in the classroom is complex with all sorts of action taking place all at once. During project work this complexity is even more visible due to intense pupil and teacher activity. The project work method and the use of ICT give the teacher more strings to play on, but it demands more of them to play in tune. In such a setting the pupils also act differently than in traditional classrooms. They need help to work together in groups, they need help to use the various tools properly, among them ICT, in the work process, and they need help to structure their work to guide them towards their goals, to mention just a few of the challenges teachers will encounters in their teaching practice. The research process has helped me to obtain a deeper understanding of the processes involved in project work using OCT as a mediating artefact

Teachers’ professional development in school: A review study

This review study includes 43 articles from 2016 and 2017 focusing on teachers’ professional development, as guided by the following twofold research question: “What characterizes teachers’ professional development in school, and how does this development influence school improvement?” The review indicates that teachers’ learning processes need to be developed if they are to lead to school improvement. It is not enough for researchers simply to study learning processes in schools; they must also conduct formative intervention studies. Ultimately, while conducting research on these processes, researchers should provoke and sustain an expansive transformation process led by and owned by practitioners—leaders and teachers in the whole school. Findings suggest that more research is needed to show how outside resource persons, such as researchers, can contribute to school development in collaboration with teachers and school leaders at work