Using Activity Theory to Investigate Classroom Practice in Further Education Leo Casey, National College of Ireland, ISCAR September 2014

School/College Classrooms... Practice changes - some more than others. Teachers and students co-develop/evolve practice. Re-shaping what happens in class changes/reframes 'implicit pedagogy' and resonates further afield. A change to 'how we go about learning'.

Drivers of classroom change Technology School/college/workplace rules and norms Quality and qualification policies Sectorial convulsions 'Professionalization' of teacher qualifications (Further Education)

Key questions What does 'good' mean in terms of classroom practice change? Why are changes so patchy? Does AT provide a useful conceptual and methodological framework to study classroom practice changes?

Foundation 1 Digital literacy in primary schools Practice profile of inquiry* Casey, Leo, & Bruce, Bertram. (2011). The practice profile of inquiry: Connecting digital literacy and pedagogy. E-Learning and Digital Media, 8(1), [ISSN ]

ask investigate create communicate reflect Inquiry Cycle

Assumption Inquiry as activity of the classroom Ideally!

Component Ask Significant questions e.g. recognizing both the affordances and the constraints and/or the nature of the mediation of the topic Questions tend to be more considered and purposeful Questions are somewhat connected but tend to be immediate and limited in scope Some inquiry but questions are disconnected from one another and from other aspects of learning and from lived experience Little evidence of questioning or inquiry Investigate Create Collaborate Reflect

How is ask facilitated by what the teacher does? investigatewhat the students do? creatematerials media ecology? communicateclass layout? reflectclass timing and structure? Practice Profile of Inquiry

How was ask facilitated by what the teacher did? investigatewhat the students did? creatematerials media ecology? communicateclass layout? reflectclass timing and structure? Practice Profile of Inquiry

Foundation 2 Broadband exemplar project Connected classroom project Diffusion of innovations* Talking to teachers 'war stories' Rogers, E. M Diffusion of Innovations. New York: Free Press.

Perceived Attributes of Innovation Relative Advantage Compatibility with Existing Values and Practices Simplicity and Ease of Use Trial-ability Observable Results

Research 18 Teachers From FE and PP settings Inquiry learning and learning inquiry - germ Reflection on practice workshops - formative intervention Teacher's 'war' stories - mirror Inquiry Cycle/Practice Profile of Inquiry as stimulus

Goals/Expectations Amplifying the teacher's voice in the change discourse Developing a conceptual framework for what it means to be a teacher Insights on classroom practice changes