Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) has been used extensively in research on learning in workplaces but less so in the related field of work-integrated learning (WIL). The aim of this article is to examine how CHAT is currently used in WIL research and so to address its current use and potential for this field. The research broadly followed a semi-systematic review method to locate 27 articles which examined WIL through a CHAT approach. This critical review examines each article through the lenses of why and how authors have utilized the CHAT methodology. Most selected articles highlight CHAT’s usefulness as providing a systemic, multi-voiced analytic tool which highlights, through identifying tensions and contradictions within the system, impediments and enablements to successful WIL practice. The study concludes that CHAT is well suited to examine the situated and sometimes problematic nature of WIL. However, the authors suggest that more attention could be paid to contradiction analysis and formative interventions, in particular through how they may promote a more critical WIL, in order to gain maximum benefit from the theory.

This study is located in the area of university work-integrated learning (WIL) management, in particular the implementation of both placement and non-placement WIL. The focus of the study is on enhancing WIL coordinators’ understanding of WIL as a system, using activity theory as a framework, and to mobilize this understanding to address challenges in practice. To this end WIL coordinators at two South African universities attended WIL challenge workshops in which an activity system-derived diagnostic toolkit was introduced. The verbal discussions and diagrams presented by the coordinators were analyzed for evidence of systematic understanding of WIL, challenges and future possibilities. Findings from the study revealed that WIL coordinators successfully used the toolkit to identify system-level constraints and were inspired to engage in further investigations. The authors thus argue that the diagnostic toolkit could be used with WIL coordinators at other universities as a useful approach to understanding and optimizing their WIL practices.

“Phubbing” (phone snubbing) has been consistently associated with negative intra‐ and interpersonal outcomes across various social contexts. However, the potential impact of phubbing on horizontal workplace relationships has not been extensively explored. The present study aimed to examine associations between coworker phubbing during breaks and social support and community, horizontal trust, and organizational commitment among electricians in Sweden. An auxiliary aim was to adapt and validate a coworker phubbing scale. In Studies 1a and 1b, confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess and validate the coworker phubbing scale in two samples. In Study 2, structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationship between phubbing and included psychosocial work environment measures. Exposure to phubbing from coworkers was associated with lower perceived support and community, trust, and commitment. The associations were stronger for more severe phubbing behaviors. Engaging in phubbing others was not considerably linked to the psychosocial measures. Younger participants reported engaging in more phubbing and lower perceived exposure to more severe phubbing. Smartphone habits at work may have implications for the psychosocial work environment and, by extension, important outcomes such as well‐being, job satisfaction, performance, and turnover

While Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) research has a significant role in investigating change, it often overlooks historical aspects. This article addresses this gap by exploring the historical dimension and its connection to creating collective and professional models in schools requiring changes in their activity systems. The study involved two Change Laboratories (CL) with 42 participants addressing issues of equal access to educational success in two lower secondary schools in Sweden. The research revealed that despite similar characteristics in for example experienced and well-trained teacher staff, the schools’ staff developed different models to tackle similar issues. The analysis examined historical conditions and developments linked to current cultural and social contexts, suggesting that the models varied related to different collective interpretations of historical experiences. Participants’ historical understanding influenced current practices and the creation of new models during the CLs to address inequality. The study underscores the empowering role of history in studies of change, emphasizing a shift from mere participation in practice to active contribution through practice. It stresses the importance of clarifying historical contexts and demonstrates how this can be achieved

In this research project, academics with expertise in work-integrated learning (WIL) and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) in South Africa and Sweden collaborated on knowledge development to enhance WIL practices. The cross-border CHAT-inspired ‘contradiction analysis’ workshop collaboration aimed to enhance understandings of the difficulties which universities experience in conducting WIL, and how such difficulties may be addressed and potentially overcome. The methodology used to conduct this research drew on CHAT as a tool to highlight contradictions within the structure and processes of WIL. In short, the elements of the activity system (Figure 1) which guide the analysis refer to what the participants understand they are working on making happen within the university (the object or raw material); what they are using to do this work (tools); who else is involved with working on the object (community); and how the work of the participants (the subjects) is governed by the rules/culture they operate in, and how the roles are divided up and who holds the most authority (division of labour or DoL) (Engeström, 2015). The structure of each contradiction analysis workshop was as follows:

1- Participants were given an introductory course on CHAT through being initiated into the activity system mode of analysis (Fig 1);

2- Each participant drew a triangular depiction of their WIL system and populated the activity system elements (Fig 1);

3- Participants identified two to three main contradictions in their system and shared these with the group as a whole;

4- Participants Collectively discussed the emerging contradictions; 5- Participants reflected on the contradiction analysis process.

A key aspect to this research was encouraging the workshop participants to understand WIL in all its often-contradictory material and social relations, and that participants themselves were multi-voiced thus requiring some form of ‘polyphonous orchestration’ (Engeström, 2015, p. 248). Such dialectical thinking also encouraged participants to identify contradictory pressure points, not as barriers to progress, but as opportunities for future changes. When seen in this way the relatively time-limited CHAT workshops set the scene as an easy and accessible introduction to change laboratory work towards the development of new and improved WIL concepts and processes. A change laboratory is a CHAT-inspired methodology in which workshop participants collectively raise issues from working life and, through the use of CHAT tools, develop their agency to transform these issues into potentially productive outcomes. A key component of agency development is participants’ recognition of difficulties as historically influenced and systemic contradictions within their organization (Sannino & Engeström, 2017). The need for change laboratory work emerges in organizations as they confront increasing complexity in their interconnectedness with other work units and with broader societal issues (Engeström and Sannino, 2010), and are in need of major transformations (Virkkunen & Newnham, 2013). However, organizational members do not necessarily recognize what is at stake nor that they have the potential to provoke change through collective, agentic and often lengthy processes such as the change laboratory. Dinh and Sannino (2024) suggest that an activity theory analysis of current workplace contradictions can impel organizational members to confront difficulties and embrace the possibility of embarking on a change laboratory to challenge the status quo. In this article the authors support the above authors’ submission through the scrutiny of a number of activity theory-inspired ‘contradiction analysis’ workshops in which participants expressed motive and interest to move further with a fullscale change laboratory. There were two main research questions:

1- Did the contradiction analysis workshops assist practitioners in gaining a systematic understanding of WIL issues?

2- Were the WIL practitioners inspired to embark on more large-scale change laboratory work?

Altogether five two-hour contradiction analysis workshops were conducted in 2023 at university WIL units and academic conferences/seminars attended by WIL practitioners in which participants grappled with pressing WIL issues in their institutions. The contexts and locations of the workshops were different but, in each case, the same process of conducting contradiction analyses was followed. Despite these contextual and geographical differences many similar contradictions and suggestions for ways forward for WIL practices emerged

The local practice of digitalization in schools is a key component of digital inclusion and literacy policies in most states. However, despite all good ambitions of educational digitalization there are several challenges when it comes to implementation. This paper will elaborate on and contribute to the understanding of implementation of digitalization in governmental settings using an inductive approach with a specific focus on responsibility and sensemaking in mandatory versus voluntary implementation requirements.

This paper presents a case study with a mixed-method approach to examine how a Swedish local government, in charge of public education, initiated and implemented a program to enhance the competence of all school leaders in leading digitalization. This program was undertaken despite differences in digital governance requirements in schools and preschools at the time. The case study illustrates the importance of connecting sensemaking theory in implementation processes to enhance the awareness of meaningful realization of digital government in local practices. Additionally, this paper highlights the methodological implications of such theoretical approaches.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is the development of a methodology that draws on activity theory (AT) to assess educators’ and leaders’ professional learning in a pre-school setting.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reports on a case study of professional development in an active learning classroom (ALC) where 20 professionals participated in a one-day writing workshop. AT was used to analyse the writing workshop as well as data from reflective writing, video recordings, interviews and surveys.

Findings: The paper shows that professional development is significantly influenced by a range of mediating technologies used in educational spaces such as the ALC. The mediated practice breaks normal work practice in the pre-school activity system and division of labour roles, and hierarchical positions and professional relationships. Such a break is considered to facilitate a manifestation of professional learning. However, it also poses a risk for organisational disruptions emphasising the need for diagnostic understanding when an ALC should be used for capturing workplace learning.

Practical implications: Structured writing workshops – taking place in ALCs – provide a suitable forum that breaks with routines, accelerates collective reflections and articulation of negotiated meaning and produces a common ground across hierarchical roles supporting collective professional development in the activity system.

Originality/value: Unlike previous research focusing on student perspectives, this study views these spaces as settings for professionals to recognise and solve developmental problems. It suggests that structured writing workshops in ALCs can accelerate collective reflection and support collective professional development across hierarchical roles.

Detta är en rapport som beskriver genomförandet av ett så kallat »Change Laboratory« inom ramen för ett samverkansprojekt kring bosociala frågor, med särskild inriktning på hemlöshet och risk för hemlöshet, i Västerviks kommun. Rapporten inleds med bakgrund till projektet och en beskrivning av hur »Change Laboratory«, den använda metoden, valdes ut och planerades. Därefter följer ett teoriavsnitt och en metodbeskrivning som syftar till att ge läsaren förståelse för vad som är centrala utgångspunkter i ett »Change Laboratory«. Sedan följer en beskrivning av metodens användning utifrån önskan om att stärka den lokala förankringen och handlingskraften mellan verksamheter som arbetar med bosociala frågor i Västerviks kommun. Vidare följer beskrivningar av genomförandet av »Change Laboratory«, session för session. Kopplat till genomförandet finns också ett resultatavsnitt som sammanfattar vad som genererades av sessionerna. Rapporten avslutas med en sammanfattning av centrala slutsatser samt med en framåtblick som beskriver vad arbetet som gjorts i »Change Laboratory« kan bidra med för ett fortsatt kommunalt samverkansarbete kring hemlöshet och risk för hemlöshet.

Sveriges befolkning ökar och med det följer om- och nybyggnation av skolor med förväntningar på innovativa skolmiljöer som erbjuder god arbetsmiljö för elever och lärare och främjar en modern, elevcentrerad och elevaktiv pedagogik. Detta projekt var baserat i en sådan nybyggd skola som erbjuder flexibilitet i variation av rum och öppna ytor, flyttbara möbler och digital teknologi i sin utformning.

Syftet med projektet har varit att utveckla förståelse för den nybyggda skolans lärmiljö och studera hur skolans flexibla rumsliga och digitala ramar påverkar lärares undervisning och elevers kunskapsutveckling med utgångspunkt i följande frågeställningar:

1. Hur används skolans fysiska och digitala rum i lärares undervisningsdesign?

2. Hur kan elevers kunskapsutveckling stöttas genom rumslig och digital undervisningsdesign?

3. Hur utnyttjas fysiska och digitala rum för att lyckas med det kompensatoriska uppdraget?

Projektets har tillämpat co-design metoder, en kombination av aktionsforskning och design-baserad forskning, där lärare och forskare systematiskt och tillsammans studerat förändring och utveckling av undervisning i skolans lärmiljö över tid. Projektet har fokuserat på lärares didaktiska planering, undervisning och reflektion, möblering och rörelse i och mellan rummen, användning av digitala resurser, anpassning till elever samt ledarskapets roll. I utvecklingen av undervisningsdesign ingick kollegial planering, uppföljning, reflektion och re-design av undervisning i workshopsformat utifrån en tidigare utvecklad meta-tänkande modell för didaktisk design kallad Tanketärningar. Undervisningsdesignen har prövats i småskaliga interventioner och studerats genom observationer av lärares och elevers praktiker. En återkommande enkät har använts för att fånga lärarnas individuella röster. Dessutom genomfördes samtal och intervjuer med lärare och ledare på skolan.

Resultaten visar på att skolans flexibla rumsliga och digitala lärmiljö ställer nya krav på lärare att tänka organisatoriskt runt elevflöden och digitala resurser i undervisningen. Lärares varierande rumsliga inramningar av undervisningen mellan fri rörlighet och statiska arrangemang ger möjligheter till olika relationsbyggande. Skolans goda digitala infrastruktur erbjuder lärarna ett multimodalt planeringsstöd och flexibilitet i feedback och anpassning av innehåll till eleverna. Dock kan den digitala undervisningen även framkalla hårt paketerad och ”klicka-sig-fram” undervisning som minskar lärares handlingsutrymme och elevinflytande. Lärare skolar in elever till en strukturerad flexibilitet för att hantera rumslig och digital variation som uppfattas även ge utrymme att möta eleverna individuellt när andra elever i gruppen arbetar mer självständigt. Samtidigt är inte lärmiljön anpassad för elever som kräver en högre grad av didaktiskt ledarskap.

Samverkansambitioner har utmanats under projektets gång av coronapandemin men också oregelbundenheten i möten utöver workshoppar. Personalomsättning har påverkat relationsbygget mellan lärare och forskare över tid. Verksamhetens kollegiala arbete i lärarlag och ämnesövergripande undervisning utifrån ett fokus på tematiskt arbete har visat sig utmana lärarrollen, främst i de högre årskurserna. Projektets resultat pekar tydligt på vikten av kollegial samsyn och ledarskapets roll i det pedagogiska arbetet. Flexibiliteten behöver tolkas och kräver omfattande kollektiv planering i lärarlag som behöver ges tid och handlingsutrymme.

Projektets resultat har spridits kontinuerligt genom skolans webbsida, vetenskapliga publikationer, presentationer och workshoppar på forskningskonferenser, föredrag i Göteborgs stad som listas i slutet på rapporten. En film har samproducerats om arbetet med tanketärningsmodellen. Under projektets gång producerades sex examensarbeten på lärarutbildningarna och en masteruppsats inom informatik. Masteruppsatsen skrevs om till ett vetenskapligt prisbelönt bidrag.