Using Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to ‘Mirror’
ICT Integration in Teacher Professional Development
Mary Hooker
GeSCI Dublin, Ireland
April, 2009
mary.hooker@gesci.org
Three basic principles of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) theory are adopted
for understanding and analyzing the process of ICT integration in Teacher Professional
Development systems:
 Teacher professional learning and development are social processes growing out of
joint activity.
 People are active cognizing agents but they work in sites that are not necessarily of
their choosing with tools that constrain and afford their actions.
 Teaching and learning systems are constantly subject to change and these changes
are driven by contradictions and tensions which can lead to expansive learning
(Cole and Russel 2002 cited in Hardman, 2008).
Activity Theory (AT) (Vygotsky, 1978; Engstrom, 2001) is currently widely applied to
study technology-based learning and working situations (Issroff and Scanlon, 2001). AT
concepts can provide a framework to explore a socio-cultural perspective for analysing
ICT practices, which supports the idea that ICT needs to be studied within the learning
environment and also within the broader and more powerful social, economic, and
political contexts and dynamics in which it is situated (Agalianos, 2001; Drenoyianni,
2006). Yates (2007) believes that much more needs to be known about the personal,
social and environmental contexts to make worthwhile policy judgments and evaluations.
The use of an AT framework can both generate clarity of the environment and make
more explicit the assumptions, values and beliefs that underpin organizational,
technological and pedagogical perspectives of ICT integration processes (Lim and Hang,
2003; Demiraslan and Usluel, 2008; Robertson, 2008).
While it is beyond the scope of this paper to provide a full description of AT, a key
feature of the theory is the extended model of Activity Systems developed by Engestrom
(2001) that conceptualizes all human activity as the interaction of six inseparable and
mutually constitutive elements: subjects, tools, object and outcome, rules, community and
division of labour.
Tools
Sense making
Subject
Rules
Object
Community
Outcome
Division of Labour
Figure 4: The six elements of an activity system
Sources: Engestrom, 2001; Hardman, 2005
The activity system refers to a community or a group of people who share a common
object (or problem space) and who use tools to act on that space transforming it. The
object is subject to change and is difficult to pin down. Relationships in the system are
driven by rules which both afford and constrain behaviour. The division of labour within
the system describes how tasks are divided horizontally between community members as
well referring to any vertical division of power and status (Centre for Activity Theory and
Developmental Work Research, 2003) (Figure 4).
The common language defined by the six elements of the activity structure can provide a
mechanism to review the process of ICT integration in different system models for TPD
provision. The usefulness of the AT approach has been demonstrated by Lim and Hang
(2003) to research ICT integration in schools in Singapore, by Yamagata-Lynch (2003) to
examine Technology Professional Development in Schools in the US, by Hardman
(2005) to understand teachers’ perceptions of computer usage in primary schools in South
Africa and more recently by Demiraslan and Usleul (2008) to examine the integration of
technology into Turkish schools.
For the current process of examining the professional development landscape for ICT
integration, an activity system framework can provide a useful mechanism to engage
institutional reflection. Based on the elements of the activity structure, focus group
discussions with professional development stakeholders (curriculum, technology,
pedagogy) can investigate and ‘mirror’ the current model of practice. This can facilitate a
collaborative process of review and analysis of the historical development of the current
model and the tensions and issues that are present, as well as enabling a process to
envisage a ‘development path’ towards a future model that is defined by institutional and
societal policy and vision for a Knowledge-based Society (Figure 5).
Outcome
Knowledge Deepening
Future Model of TPD Provision
Tools
Curriculum & Assessment, Basic ICT tools, Face-to-face
Subject
TPD provider
Object
Digital literacy
‘Mirror’
of
everyday practice
(historical and
on-going)
Outcome
Technology Literacy
Rules
Policy
Community
Division of labour
Administration
Teacher and Learning Planning
Pedagogy
Technology Planning (Technology)
Technology
Present Model of TPD Provision
Facilitators
TPD Stakeholders
Tension
Division of Labour: Lack of coordination between Technology and Pedagogy Team Planning
Fig. 5 Expansive Learning through Benchmarking Past, Present and Future Models
Adapted: Engestrom, 2003
The exploration of the complex pedagogical, social and technological issues inherent in
the ICT integration marks the start of a system’s reflection process. The conceptual tools
inherent in the AT framework can engender a dynamic, multi-layered and multi-voiced
reflective dialogue about the needs and possibilities for TPD programme development for
ICT integration.
Activity Theory presents a flexible framework for facilitating a benchmarking process for
integrating ICT in TPD programmes: a space for debate, discussion, critique, validation
and ultimately expansionist learning – that is ‘learning beyond what would have been
possible if actors from each perspective remained insulated’ (Robertson, 2008:819).
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