An investigation into the use of Activity Theory to

1
An investigation into the use of Activity Theory
to Mirror ICT Practices in the Teacher
Professional Development Landscape of a
Development Country Context

• Mary Hooker
• EdTech 2009
• Post-graduate Track Dublin City University

2
Action Research

• Action researchers start with an idea and follow
  it where it leads them...
• Mc Niff and Whitehead (2006 31)

3
Research Question

• How can I improve my practice as a facilitator
  to engage teacher educator institutions in a
  reflexive discourse on the use of ICT in Teacher
  Professional Development?

4
My Context

• I am an Education Specialist
• I work for an INGO called Global eSchools and
  Communities Initiatives (GeSCI)
• GeSCI provides strategic advice to Ministries of
  Education in developing countries on the
  effective use of Information and Communication
  Technologies (ICTs) for education and communities
  of learning.

5
My Values

• I reject power imbalances evident in north-south
  relationships in development
• Knowledge has to represent something far greater
  than a transfer of packaged models or frameworks
  from one system to another
• I value other peoples capacity to come to know
  in their own way, to create their own knowledge,
  to draw on insights from the knowledge of others

6
My Concerns

• An equitable relationship with partners developed
  upon processes of mutual learning and change
• Approaching issues on a basis of co-construction
  of knowledge, through processes of critical
  reflection and experience

7
Why am I concerned?

• North-south transfer of capacity which is often
  assumed, rather than a process of mutual learning
  
• (Taylor and Clarke, 2008)
• Problematic nature of collaboration if
  participants have not been properly involved in
  defining the need and purpose of the
  developmental process and their views and
  interests are not addressed
• (Kontiainen 2007, cited in Hakkarainen, 2007)
• The gap between classroots and policy level
• (O Sullivan, 2004)
• The absence of the teachers voice in policy
  discourse and formulation

8
What am I going to do about it?

• I need to develop appropriate tools to support
  knowledge building and understanding of the
  issues and challenges in Teacher Professional
  Development policy and practice

9
Literature
Global Agenda Education For All

• Education for All (EFA) agenda as a Global Social
  Justice (GSJ) Project
• Concept of quality is fundamental to its
  achievement
• A quality education is dependent on the
  development of high quality teachers
• Momentous challenge in a global context of ever
  more complex demands on systems for educational
  provision
• Acute shortages in the supply of suitably
  qualified and experienced teachers north and
  south
• Disparities in quality provision accelerate as
  richer countries lure qualified teachers from
  less favoured regions.
• Davis, 2000 Leach 2008

10
Literature
Global Agenda Knowledge Society for All

• New Growth economic models emphasize the
  importance of new knowledge, innovation, and the
  development of human capacity as the sources of
  sustainable economic growth
• ICTs are engines for new growth and tools for
  empowering societies to change into knowledge
  economies or information societies
• Through access to an inclusive high-quality
  education by all benefits to individual,
  business, private and public enterprise are
  multiplied and will lead to economic growth that
  is more equitably distributed and enjoyed by all.
• GeSCI, 2008 UNESCO 2008

Source AKRI Ltd.
11
Literature
Use of ICT in Teacher Professional Development
in Africa

• Complex landscape
• Myriad of national and international initiatives
• Proliferation of one-off, topic-led, short-term
  training programmes that aim to develop specific
  skills of teachers
• Paradigm shift towards longer term, systemic TPD
  initiatives
• Features of ICT integration in and across
  curricula, on-line learning, virtual communities
  of practice, web portals of resources,
  certification of progress
• Farrell and Isaacs, 2007

Source UNESCO
12
Literature
Benchmarking ICT in Teacher Professional
Development

Three Approaches for ICT Integration in Teacher Professional Development Three Approaches for ICT Integration in Teacher Professional Development Three Approaches for ICT Integration in Teacher Professional Development Three Approaches for ICT Integration in Teacher Professional Development
Policy Vision Technology Literacy Knowledge Deepening Knowledge Creation
Curriculum Assessment Basic Knowledge Knowledge Application 21st Century Skills
Pedagogy Integrate Technology Complex Problem Solving Self Management
ICT Basic Tools Complex Tools Pervasive Technology
Organization Administration Standard Classroom Collaborative Groups Learning Organizations
Teacher Professional Development Digital Literacy Manage Guide Teacher as Model Learner
Source UNESCO 2008 Source UNESCO 2008 Source UNESCO 2008 Source UNESCO 2008
13
Literature
Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT)...
New solutions, new model for practice
Mirror of everyday practice (Historical
and ongoing)
Future
Conceptual tools
Present
Past
Activity system framework
Facilitators
Stakeholders
Engestrom, 2003
14
CHAT Cycles for Expansive Learning
Literature
15
Methodology

• Qualitative approach Action Research Living
  Theory
• (Whitehead and Mc Niff, 2006)
• Studying my practice and generating practical
  knowledge that is rooted in my practice in
  relation to the ideas of others

16
CHAT... Cycle 1 Past
Mirror of everyday practice (Historical
and ongoing)
Conceptual tools
Past
Activity system framework
Facilitators
Stakeholders
Engestrom, 2003
17
CYCLE 1 TEACHERS STORIES
Story telling in a conversational setting with
its associations for risk-taking and
permissiveness, may be more likely to reveal
uncomfortable experiences, ideas, issues and
concerns conditions (that) can increase the odds
for productive learning. McDrury and Alterio
2002, cited in Haigh, 200512
18
THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHANGE (MSC) TECHNIQUE

• Process involves
• The collection of significant change (SC) stories
  from the practice level
• The systematic selection of the most significant
  of these stories by panels or working groups of
  stakeholders or staff

19
THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHANGE (MSC) TECHNIQUE
Looking back over the last month, what do you
think was the most significant change in your
practice since using computers in your
classroom?
THE KERNEL
20
THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHANGE (MSC) TECHNIQUE
From among all these significant change
stories, what do you think was the most
significant change of all?
THE KERNEL
21
Story Selection Criteria

• Shift in teacher role
• teacher is no longer the gatekeeper of knowledge
• teacher is emerging as co-learner - learning with
  and from students about the technology
•  
• Shift in pedagogy
• student-centred approach
• discovering learning through exploring
• ICT as catalyst for change
• ICTs can change pedagogy
• student can become addicted and distracted from
  learning
• war inside teacher leading to anxiety

• Shift in learner role
• from passive to active engagement
• student more confident in using technology than
  teacher
• Shift in pedagogy
• Learning becomes real - changes world view
• Student can learn from research, team work,
  communication (self-learning)
• ICT as catalyst for change
• ICT breaking down geographic barriers - world
  accessible through the internet
• 3d multi-media dynamic learning instead of 2d
  static learning
• Interactivity for student
• Education For All Relationship

22
CHAT... Cycle 2 Present
Mirror of everyday practice (Historical
and ongoing)
Conceptual tools
Present
Past
Activity system framework
Facilitators
Stakeholders
Engestrom, 2003
23
CYCLE 2 TEACHERS WORK ENVIRONMENTS
Activity Theory Lens What tensions do the
stories reveal in educational practice?
24
Facilitating Expansive School Transformation
Using ICT in the SADC Region A Botswana Pilot
Project
Nleya, 2009
25
School Time-table
Teacher-Rules Do you collaborate with other
teachers about how ICT can be used in teaching
and learning? For now no, the teacher has a lot
of, many periods, 27, 28, we are not permitted to
get time to discuss about it... The high priority
for teachers is to prepare notes for what they
have to teach their students in their subjects...
And marking, that is what I think...
Tools
ICT


Teacher B Object

ICT
Literacy


Rules
Role

School time-table
Liaise between school and
partner Curriculum
National Examinations
26
Community of Practice
Teacher-Community Do teachers ever communicate
with teachers in other schools? Not so much
actually, not so much... But if we can discuss
with the teachers, during our time, our free
time, we can say, we can help each other


Tools - ICT


Teacher B
Object

ICT Literacy



Rules
Community Role
School
time-table Teachers
Liaise between school and
partner Curriculum
Management National Examinations
27
Tensions in School Environment

• Teachertools The insufficiency of ICT training
  and inadequacy of lab resources hampers the
  teachers efforts to implement ICT in the
  teaching-learning process.
• Teacherrules Tight time-tables and bureaucratic
  planning inhibit opportunities for the teacher to
  research, to direct self-learning to communicate
  with other teachers on ICT use. Teachers tend to
  be excluded from school policy and planning on
  ICT use in the school environment.
• Teacher-objective The teachers are not involved
  in defining objectives for their training needs
  for ICT integration. There are many constraints
  and no incentives for teachers to apply ICT in
  their daily practice.
• Tools-community The insufficiency of ICT
  resources available to teachers inhibits
  inter-disciplinary collaboration internally
  between teachers and ICT liaison/ coordinators,
  and between teachers and other teachers from
  other schools.

28
CHAT... Cycle 3 Future
New solutions, new model for practice
Mirror of everyday practice (Historical
and ongoing)
Future
Conceptual tools
Present
Past
Activity system framework
Facilitators
Stakeholders
Engestrom, 2003
29
CYCLE 3 WORKSHOP TEACHER PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT FOR TOMORROW, TODAY
30
Change Story Lens
Mirror 1 - Past Which story represents the most
significant change? Teacher A? Teacher
B? Teacher C? Student D?
31
Activity System Lens

• Mirror 2 - Present
• What tensions do the stories reveal about
  current educational practice?

32
Future Scenario Lens

• Mirror 3 - Future
• What scenarios will teachers populate in future
  practice?

Figure 1 Two dimensions of expansive TPD transformation. The upper right (sector 4) indicates the direction of the individual and collective technology enhanced zone of proximal development (ZPD). Figure 1 Two dimensions of expansive TPD transformation. The upper right (sector 4) indicates the direction of the individual and collective technology enhanced zone of proximal development (ZPD). Figure 1 Two dimensions of expansive TPD transformation. The upper right (sector 4) indicates the direction of the individual and collective technology enhanced zone of proximal development (ZPD). Figure 1 Two dimensions of expansive TPD transformation. The upper right (sector 4) indicates the direction of the individual and collective technology enhanced zone of proximal development (ZPD).
Institutions and schools in collaboration with the community (local, national, regional) ICT a core technology Institutions and schools in collaboration with the community (local, national, regional) ICT a core technology Institutions and schools in collaboration with the community (local, national, regional) ICT a core technology Institutions and schools in collaboration with the community (local, national, regional) ICT a core technology
Given Transition Knowledge deepening Teacher professional development focus on the use of ICT to guide students through complex problems and manage dynamic learning environment 3 Transformation Knowledge creation Teachers are themselves master learners and knowledge producers who are constantly engaged in educational experimentation and innovation to produce new knowledge about learning and teaching practice 4 Experimentation in context
Programmes 1 Traditional Technology add-on Teacher training focus the use of ICT as an add-on to the traditional curricula and standardized test systems 2 Transmission Technology literacy Teacher training focus on the development of digital literacy and the use of ICT for professional improvement with varying solutions
ICT a complementary technology Institutions and schools as relatively isolated from the community ICT a complementary technology Institutions and schools as relatively isolated from the community ICT a complementary technology Institutions and schools as relatively isolated from the community ICT a complementary technology Institutions and schools as relatively isolated from the community
Adapted Kennedy, 2005 UNESCO, 2008 Adapted Kennedy, 2005 UNESCO, 2008 Adapted Kennedy, 2005 UNESCO, 2008 Adapted Kennedy, 2005 UNESCO, 2008
33
Expansive Learning

• Creating a new model
• What will be the Development Path for the next
  ten years?

34
Living Contradiction

• We take as the starting point of our research
  the idea that we experience ourselves as living
  contradictions when our values are denied in our
  practice
• Whitehead 1989 cited in Whitehead and McNiff
  2006 25

35
Workshop evaluation

• Workshop was successful due to strong
  communication, facilitation and organizational
  skills of facilitators but it had some
  shortcomings.
• To organize a workshop which yields no
  significant outcomes, is a wastage of money, time
  and resources which otherwise can be utilized in
  another productive mission.
• Participant Feedback - Workshop Teacher
  Professional Development for Tomorrow, Today

36
Workshop on North/South Research Partnerships for
ICT in Education April 21st Irish Aid Centre,
Dublin

• New joint research projects
• New models for integrating research to education
  development and policy making
• New capacities in South and North

Research
GeSCI
Education Development
Policy making
37
References

• Davies, R and Dart, J. 2007. The Most
  Significant Change Technique Online. Available
  from http//www.mande.co.uk/docs/MSCGuide.pdf
• Davis, N. 2000. International Contrast of
  Information Technology in Teacher Education
  multiple perspectives of change. Editorial.
  Journal of Technology for Teacher Education
  Online. 9 (2) pp 139-147 Available from
  Academic Search Premier http//www.library.dcu.ie/
  Eresources/databases-az.htm Accessed 26 March
  2009
• Engestrom, R. 2003. Change lab a new
  perspective to teachers professional development
  Online. Available from WITFOR at
  www.witfor.org.bw/doc/dr_ritva_education.ppt
  Accessed 19 April 2009
• Farrell, G. and Isaacs, S. 2007. Survey of ICT
  and Education in Africa Online. Available from
  infoDEV at www.infodev.org/en/Document.353.pdf
  Accessed 9 April 2009
• GeSCI 2008. Strategic Plan 2009 2011 Online.
  Available from GeSCI at www.gesci.org Accessed
  15 December 2008
• Hakkarainen, K. et al. 2008. A Research Plan for
  the Academy of Finland. Helensinki University of
  Helsinki (internal document)
• Kennedy, A. 2005. Models for Continuing
  Professional Development A framework for
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  Online. 31 (2), pp235-250. Available from
  Professional Development Collection at
  http//www.library.dcu.ie/Eresources/databases-az.
  htm Accessed 15 December 2008
• Leach, J. 2008. Do new information and
  communications technologies have a role to play
  in the achievement of education for all? British
  Educational Research Journal Online. 34 (6),
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  ases-az.htm Accessed 26 March 2009
• OSullivan, M. 2004. The reconceptualisation of
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  cu.ie/Eresources/databases-az.htm Accessed 15
  December 2008
• Taylor, P. and Clarke, P. 2008. Capacity for
  Change. Sussex CUIDS, University of Sussex
• UNESCO 2008. ICT Competency Standards for
  Teachers Policy Framework Online. Available
  from UNESCO at http//cst.unesco-ci.org/sites/pro
  jects/cst/The20Standards/ICT-CST-Policy20Framewo
  rk.pdf Accessed 11 April 2009
• Whitehead, J. and Mc Niff, J. 2006. Action
  Research Living Theory.London Sage Publications