Perspectives on Activity Theory

Activity theory is an interdisciplinary approach to human sciences that originates in the cultural-historical psychology school, initiated by Vygotsky, Leont’ev, and Luria. It takes the object-oriented, artifact-mediated collective activity system as its unit of analysis, thus bridging the gulf between the individual subject and the societal structure. This volume is the first comprehensive presentation of contemporary work in activity theory, with 26 original chapters by authors from ten countries. In Part I of the book, central theoretical issues are discussed from different points of view. Some topics addressed in this part are epistemology, methodology, and the relationship between biological and cultural factors. Part II is devoted to the acquisition and development of language - a theme that played a central role in the work of Vygotsky and Luria. This part includes a chapter that analyzes writing activity in Japanese classrooms, and an original case study of literacy skills of a man with cerebral palsy. Part III contains chapters on play, learning, and education, and part IV addresses the meaning of new technology and the development of work activities. The final part covers issues of therapy and addiction.

• New multidisciplinary paradigm • First comprehensive introduction in English • Unique combination of theory and practice

Part I. Theoretical Issues: 1. Activity theory and individual and social transformation Yrjo Engeström; 2. The content and unsolved problems of activity theory Vassily V. Davydov; 3. Knowledge as shared procedures Stephen Toulmin; 4. Activity theory in a new era Vladimir A. Letkorsky; 5. Society versus context in individual development: does theory make a difference? Charles W. Tolman; 6. Cultural psychology: some general principles and a concrete example Michael Cole; 7. Laws logics and human activity Antti Eskola; 8. Collapse creation and continuity in Europe - how do people change? Yrjo-Paavo Hayrynen; 9. Activity theory and the concept of integrative levels Eythel Tobach; 10. The relevance to psychology of Antonio Gramsci’s ideas on activity and common sense Francesco Paolo Colucci; Part II. Language and its Acquisition: 11. The expanded dialogic sphere: writing activity and authoring of self in Japanese classrooms Yuji Moro; 12. Improvement of school children’s reading and writing ability through the formation of linguistic awareness Kyoshi Amano; 13. Psychomotor and socio-emotional processes in literacy acquisition: results from an ongoing case study involving a nonvocal cerebral palsic young man Matthias Bujarski Martin Hildebrand-Nilshon and Jane Kordt; Part III. Play Learning and Instruction: 14. Play and motivation Pentti Hakkarainen; 15. Drama games with six year old children: possibilities and limitations Stig Brostrom; 16. Activity formation as an alternative strategy of instruction Joachim Lompscher; 17. Activity theory and historic teaching Mariane Hedegaard; 18. Didactic models and the problem of intertextuality and polyphony Jacques Carpay and Bert Van Oers; 19. Metaphor and learning activity Bernd Fichtner; 20. Transcending traditional school learning: teachers’ work and networks of learning Reijo Miettinen; Part IV. Technology and Work: 21. The theory of activity changed by information technology Oleg K. Tikhomirov; 22. Activity theory transformation of work and information systems design Kari Kuutti; 23. Innovative learning in work teams: analyzing cycles of knowledge creation in practice Yrjö Engeström; Part V. Therapy and Addiction: 24. Object relations theory and activity theory: a proposed link by way of the procedural sequence model Anthony Ryle; 25. The concept of sign in the work of Vygotsky, Winnicott and Bakhtin: further integration of object relations theory and activity theory Mikael Leiman; 26. From addiction to self-governance Anja Koski-Jannes.