Theoretical Resources
This page contains theoretical resources to support the project. These resources have played many parts in the development of the project: some relate to theories and ideas which guided its development, others we have used along the way to inform our thinking. There are also references here to other projects and research which support, challenge or can be contrasted with the PELRS work. All of the resources are collected on this page, although there are links into this page from relevant parts of the pedagogic framework as well. So this text can be read in two ways, through links from the diagram to specific sections, or it can be read in its entirety to gain an overview of some of the thinking behind the project.
Activity Theory
Activity theory forms a core part of the PELRS project. Activity theory holds that a human activity system is jointly constructed from the people and the mediating influence of cultural tools and signs. Language is perhaps the largest and most important cultural tool being a shared site for the construction of meaning and agreement. But other cultural tools are very important, including the affordances offered by ICT tools which are increasing in sophistication and their scope to influence learning. Activity theory demonstrates that human potential is a combination of cognitive processes (thinking and imagination) and the tools available to achieve specific goals. The tools are not neutral or value-free, but are an intrinsic part of any activity system. Therefore an activity based approach to learning will need to pay close attention to the tools being used and how they are being used.
You can read a series of definitions of activity theory here. http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc/act_dff.html
Activity theory was initiated by a group of Russian psychologists including Lev Vygotsky working in the 1920s and 1930s, and later the work of Yrjo Engestrom has been instrumental in popularising this way of thinking about how people work and learn together. The for of the generic pedagogic framework and strategies are based on a second generation activity theory model introduced by Engestrom which is reproduced below
The top triangle in this diagram describes the relationship between the subjects (people), the objects (which are the outcomes or goals which they are working toward) and the instruments or tools which are being used to achieve that outcome. This works at both individual and group levels, so a person building a wall would be using a series of tools (trowel, bricks, mortar) in order to achieve the object (a wall built to do a particular job). When a group is involved in an activity system (which is frequently the case) the interactions become more complex. Theorists have pointed out that one possible complication is the issue of defining an object or shared outcome which all agree, understand and are working towards. Often in schools the teachers have one object (a particular kind of learning or curriculum content), but the pupils may not share this object which can lead to conflict and an activity system which does not function properly. The goal of the learning focus plenary sessions in PELRS is to use dialogue and debate between teachers and pupils to agree an object before work commences and therefore reduce the potential for conflict. Because this conversation should also include the types of tools and modes of working which the group can use to achieve their object a more harmonious and productive activity system can also be the result.
Below the top triangle of the activity system is another set of concepts, these relate further to the way the activity system works.
"Rules" are important because this describes the explicit and implicit rules which govern the community and the way it operates, these may relate to tool use or wider features. One obvious example using ICT in school is the limits on speaking which are sometimes placed on pupils when they work on computers. Teachers may want pupils to work quietly and individually when using computers and make this a rule governing their usage. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this rule, but it is important when using activity theory to understand what these rules are and how they shape the way in which a group goes about achieving its objectives. PELRS is examining these rules and working with teachers to see how rules may sometimes need to be redefined or even abandoned to allow work with ICT across the curriculum. Other rules may have to be introduced to support PELRS style work, for instance when pupils act as teachers there may need to be an explicit rule by the teacher that all work should be respected and a class should give each group an equal chance to share their knowledge.
Community descibes the kind of group engaged in an activity and how this shapes the way things are done and what can be achieved. Classrooms are communities in that a group of people come together on a regular basis for a particular purpose and activity theory places a particular emphasis on understanding the nature of this community and theorising links between the way it operates and what it achieves.
Division of labour is a concept which deals with the way in which tasks and roles are apportioned within an activity system. In a classroom there is a clear division of labour between the pupils and the teachers, but there are other divisions within these groupings. PELRS project work allows for labour to be divided so that pupils with particular skills are given tasks which are suited to them, rather than all pupils working on exactly the same tasks. Real choices about how to use ICT tools for learning allow pupils to use particular skills and cooperate to find the best ways of using expertise within the group.
Larry Cuban
Larry Cuban is an American writer and commentator on technology in education. In 2001 he published a book called "Oversold and underused: computers in the classroom" which is a critique of American ICT policy. Cuban's writing is accessible and persuasive and he is particularly critical of the disparity between the huge amounts of investment in ICT for schools and the ways in which it is used. Cuban understands fully the dramatic potential of ICT in education and he makes eloquent arguments about why this potential is not realised and the barriers and constraints which schools and teachers face in transforming practice. The full text of the book is available at this website and is well worth a read. http://www.edtechnot.com/notcuban.html
Mark Prensky
Marc Prensky is a controversial writer on children's learning and digital culture. He popularised the idea of digital natives and digital immigrants. The digital natives are the children growing up today surrounded by digital techology and therefore learning to speak the language of digital resources as natives. The immigrants are older generations who grew up without this technology and have to "immigrate" into this world. The metaphor continues as Prensky argues that digital immigrants speak digital with an accent, just as newcomers to a foreign country rarely lose the accent of their mother tongue. Printing out emails is an example that Prensky gives of speaking digital "with an accent", and something which the digital natives would never do (they would read from the screen and never think of moving to paper). Prensky also argues that video games (the kind you get on play station 2 and Xboxes) are excellent learning tools and rejects what he sees as a false division between entertainment, popular culture and learning. His writing can be very engaging, thought provoking and he lays down a series of very serious challenges to mass education and the processes of traditional schooling. We have included him in our theoretical resources section because his ideas are stimulating. His website contains full and free versions of many of his articles and books and is a good place to read about the impact of digital culture.
Click here to visit Marc Prensky's website: www.marcprensky.com
Ultralab
Ultralab is based at Anglia Polytechnic University and is run by Steven Hepple. For the last 20 years the lab has been working on innovative and radical ways of using technology for education. Ultralab has done some amazing work with technology and is constantly pusing back the barriers of what can be done at school and outside.
Ultralab's home page can be found here http://ww2.ultralab.net/flash/default.html, visit the list of projects to get an overview of the work being done there.
James Wertsch
James Wertsch has written influentially on socio cultural and activity theory. His book Mind as Action analyses a whole range of cultural issues using sociocultural theory. Wertsch's emphasis is on the centrality of cultural tools and their role in mediating human activity. He uses the example of pole vaulting in one of the chapters, arguing that the a successful jump is the combination of a human actor (the jumper) and the mediating means at his or her disposal (the technology of the pole). As the designs of poles and their materials developed, the nature of pole vaulting has changed as Wertsch uses this to demonstrate the centrality of mediating tools.
Alan November
Alan November explores the changes in education which technology is bringing about. His websitewww.anovember.com is full of useful resources for thinking about school change and technology. One of November's key ideas is the need to teach pupils about the "grammar" of the internet. He asserts that all versions of the truth are available online and educators should concentrate on teaching pupils how the internet and world wide web works and how to make informed decisions about the veracity and trustworthiness of sources they encounter.