Perspectives on Activity Theory Yrjo Engestrom (University of California, San Diego)

Perspectives on Activity Theory By Yrjo Engestrom (University of California, San Diego)

Summary

An international, interdisciplinary overview of research on activity theory, first published in 1999. Activity theory bridges the gulf between the individual subject and the societal structure by taking the object-oriented, artifact-mediated collective activity as its unit of analysis.

Perspectives on Activity Theory by Yrjo Engestrom (University of California, San Diego)

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 1999 volume includes 26 chapters on activity theory 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. This part includes a chapter that analyzes writing activity in Japanese classrooms, and a 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 technology and the development of work activities. The final part covers issues of therapy and addiction.

Part I. Theoretical Issues: 1. Activity theory and individual and social transformation Yrjo Engestrom; 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 Yrjo Engestrom; 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.

Perspectives on Activity Theory Yrjo Engestrom (University of California, San Diego)

Perspectives on Activity Theory by Yrjo Engestrom (University of California, San Diego)

Summary

Perspectives on Activity Theory Summary

Perspectives on Activity Theory by Yrjo Engestrom (University of California, San Diego)

Table of Contents

Additional information

Customer Reviews - Perspectives on Activity Theory