Expansive learning: object reinterpreted and widened when activity-system components change and generate contradictions¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

Drawing on Engeström and on Virkkunen and Kuutti, the article presents expansive learning as a transformation in the object of activity. The object of activity is reinterpreted and "reconstructed in a wider perspective" when components of the activity system change substantially and misalign, resulting in contradictions or double binds that individuals overcome. Resolution of contradictions, rather than regression to old practices, gradually gives form to a new practice; in learning contexts, expansive learning activity produces "new patterns of activity." The article uses this principle to interpret e-teachers' shift toward facilitative practice as resolution of contradictions between historically learned F2F teaching and the online classroom.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Contradictions or double binds arising from substantial change and misalignment of activity-system components trigger the expansive transformation

Constraints¶

• There is a constant tension between expansive, future-oriented solutions and regressive ones that would mean return to the old practices

Target Learners¶

• e-teachers learning new forms of activity in online environments

Target Learning Objectives¶

• reconceptualizing the object of teaching from knowledge transmission to facilitation of independent learning

Claims¶

• E Teachers Widen Object Toward Independent Learning [+M]

Related Theories¶

• The activity/action/operation hierarchy of activity theory
• Activity theory: a mediated activity system framework for analyzing cognition in context

Examples¶

• Support e-teachers' transition with professional development focused on reflecting on online-versus-F2F differences and the potential of the tools

Key Sources¶

• Murphy, E., & Rodriguez-Manzanares, M. A. (2009). Sage without a Stage: Expanding the Object of Teaching in a Web-Based, High-School Classroom. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(3). https://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl. doi:10.19173/irrodl.v10i3.579