Development of Teacher Collaboration Within an Activity System: Using Contradictions as Sources for Professional Learning

• In Event: Re-Mediating Subject/Subject, Subject/Object Relations in Cultural Historical Research

Abstract

It is not easy for teachers to acknowledge contradictions inherent in their everyday practice. Researchers have the educational responsibility to empower practitioners for improvement. By adopting a framework from the third generation of activity theory, this paper explores how contradictions served as the sources for professional learning through teacher collaboration. Using interview data to unveil the hidden contradictions as anchoring points, it examined an ethnographic archive of 42 collaborative meetings from a teacher group organized into two teams. Results illustrated their unique cultural-historical values influenced the individual-collective interactions. This study gives an empirical account for the dual nature of contradictions to professional learning. It finally leads to a theoretical reconceptualization for systemic transformation supporting meaningful teacher collaboration.

Author

• Ivy Lau, The University of Hong Kong