Researching teacher development in ICT:  can the vygotskian experimental-genetic methodology do the trick? Lada Smirnova, June 2015

fessional Development Epigraph fessional Development Движенья нет, сказал мудрец брадатый. Другой смолчал и стал пред ним ходить. А.С. Пушкин (1825) One bearded sage concluded: there's no motion.  Without a word, another walked before him. Alexander Pushkin (1825) (Translation by Andrey Kneller)  

Outline Researching Development – aiming at a moving target Experimental-genetic methodology 3 principles of Vygotsky’s approach Engeström’s Change Laboratory cycle 5 principles of research methodology Challenges to consider

Staff development lies at the heart of nearly every educational effort to improve student achievement (Supovitz &. Turner, 2000:963) Teachers have ‘responsibility to develop professionally throughout their careers’ (Johnson, 2006:250) Teacher Development is ‘fundamentally a bottom-up, … self-initiated, self-monitored development of skills, knowledge and attitudes’ (Eldridge, 2005:6)

What is Exploratory Practice? http://www.delphifeeds.com/go/s/122072

Similar phases of development The Research Study ?

Two paths of development ≠ galleryhip.com

Intervention (latin) Inter- between venio - to come ‘to come between’ Definitions Intervention (latin) Inter- between venio - to come ‘to come between’ Formative intervention methods Genetic-modeling experiment (Vygotsky; Davydov; Zuckerman, 2012) French clinic of activity (Clot, 2009; Clot & Kostulski, 2011) American Fifth Dimension (Cole, 2006) Change Laboratory (Engeström,1996, 2014); Virkkunen & Newnham, 2013).

Change Laboratory Engeström’s cycle Virkkunen et al (2013:17)

5 principles of methodology 1. Buds of development 2. Dramatic event 3. Interaction of real (natural) and ideal (cultural) forms 4. Developmental tools (web 2.0 in my case) 5. Sustainable qualitative changes as an outcome of the experiment. (Veresov, 2010:88-89)

1. Extra burden on teachers 2. Need emotional involvement Expected challenges 1. Extra burden on teachers 2. Need emotional involvement and professional commitment of each and every

Any questions? Comments? Suggestions? ladasmir@gmail.com

References References Clot, Y. (2009). Clinic of activity: The dialogue as instrument. In A. Sannino, H. Daniels, & K. Gutierrez (Eds.), Learning and expanding with activity theory (pp. 286–302). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Clot, Y., & Kostulski, K. (2011). Intervening for transforming: The horizon of action in the Clinic of Activity. Theory and Psychology, 21:681–696.   Cole, M., & The Distributed Literacy Consortium. (Eds.). (2006). The Fifth Dimension: An after-school program built on diversity. New York, NY: Russell Sage.
 Davydov, V. V. (1990). Types of generalization in instruction: Logical and psychological problems in the structuring of school curricula. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
 Davydov, V. V. (2008). Problems of developmental instruction: A theoretical and experimental psychological study. New York, NY: Nova. Eldridge, J. (2005). Rendering unto Caesar: the ambivalent case of in-service teacher training. TD SIG Newsletter 1/05: 6-10 Engeström, Y. (1996). Developmental work research as educational research. Nordisk pedagogik 16/3:131–143. Engeström, Y. (2007). Putting Vygotsky to work: The Change Laboratory as an application of double stimulation. In H. Daniels, M. Cole, & J. V. Wertsch (Eds.), The Cambridge companion to Vygotsky (pp. 363–382). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
 Engeström, Y., Sannino, A., & Virkkunen, J. (2014). On the methodological demands of formative interventions. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 21/2:118-128.

References Johnson, K. (2006). The sociocultural turn and its challenges for second language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly, 40/1: 235-257. Supovitz, J. A., & Turner, H. M. (2000). The effects of professional development on science teaching practices and classroom culture. Journal of research in science teaching, 37/9:963-980. Veresov, N. (2010) Introducing cultural historical theory: main concepts and principles of genetic research methodology. Cultural-Historical Psychology, 4:83-90. Veresov, N. (2014). Method, Methodology and Methodological Thinking. In Visual Methodologies and Digital Tools for Researching with Young Children (pp. 215-228). Springer International Publishing. Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky: Vol. 1. Problems of general psychology. New York, NY: Plenum. Vygotsky, L. S. (1997). The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky: Vol. 4. The history of the development of higher mental functions. New York, NY: Plenum. Virkkunen, J., & Newnham, D. S. (2013). The Change Laboratory: A tool for collaborative development of work and education. Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Sense Publishers Virkkunen, J., Newnham, D. S., Nleya, P., & Engeström, R. (2012). Breaking the vicious circle of categorizing students in school. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 1, 183–192. Zuckerman, G. A. (2012). Developmental education: A genetic modeling experiment. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 49(6), 45–63.